The Road to Freedom
by charlie009d
Summary: Gibbs and Tony become the victims of insane serial kidnappers. Cut off from the rest of the world, they must struggle to survive.
1. Men And Women

_Okay, before I get started with this, I want to say that I am not the author of this story. I'm just charlie009d's typing monkey, and I type and post her stories for her because she doesn't have internet. Anyways, this will be charlie's longest story so far, and it will be about fifteen chapters. And a warning: there will be some torture in this. I'm not sure how much, because charlie only has up to chapter five written at the moment. And it won't be extremely graphic. Possibly a little disturbing though. And if you haven't read any of charlie's other stories, let me warn you that sometimes I make these author's notes kinda long and rambling. So I'm gonna shut up now and let you read the actual story._

_I wouldn't be typing this if I owned NCIS. I don't even get paid to type this._

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><p><em>Men, women, and children all over the country have been disappearing, always in pairs, without any warning. The most recent kidnapping was of two high school sophomores, Carmon Michaels and Shari Moore in the state of Pennsylvania. Miss Michaels and Miss Moore had been "BFF's" since the first grade. Hundreds of people have been taken. How can they just drop off the face of the earth? Who will be next?<em>

_-Article by Khloe Simon_

Tony sat down the newspaper and watched his boss as he placed breakfast in front of his Senior Field Agent. The two men ate quietly until Tony could no longer stand the silence.

"So, Boss," he began, "Could you explain to me how you managed to roll your car seven times without you being in it or it being hit by another car?"

Gibbs just smiled.

Tony shook his head absentmindedly. "That takes skill."

Gibbs peered over the table at the newspaper. The headline caught his attention. This was the first time he had heard of the disappearing people. A serial kidnapping, he was going to look into that when he got to work.

Gibbs cleared the table with the help of Tony. They were both halfway out the door when Gibbs heard a noise. He turned around and headed for the staircase with one hand on his gun. Tony followed him unquestionably. The floorboards above their heads creaked and both men pulled out their guns. Gibbs went up first and found the hallway empty. He nodded to Tony to say "All clear."

Gibbs placed his hand on the guest bedroom doorknob and slowly creaked open the door. A man jumped on him and forced a rope around his neck. Tony aimed his gun at the man, but couldn't shoot him without shooting Gibbs.

The man had sandy brown hair and soulless blue eyes. He smiled at Tony like this was all some big game.

"Shoot at me," the man said, pulling the rope around Gibbs's neck tighter, "and your boss gets it."

Tony's eyes widened. How did he know Gibbs was his boss? Gibbs stared at Tony as if to say, 'Shoot him, you idiot! Don't worry about me.' Tony was about to pull the trigger when another gun went off. Pain roared through Tony's left shoulder. He dropped his gun and fell to his knees, holding his wound. A man with blonde hair and a squared jaw frowned down at Tony. He raised his gun to fire again, but a beautiful woman with long black hair and equally dark eyes stepped in his way.

"Chad!" she scolded. "Don't hurt him anymore! He's just trying to help his boss. Besides-" she said looking over at Tony, "He's a cutie."

Chad rolled his eyes and pulled the dark haired beauty into a deep kiss. The man who had Gibbs pinned made an annoyed sound and the two broke apart.

"Can I kill him yet?" he asked, gesturing to Gibbs.

"Not yet, Landon." Chad said.

Landon frowned and pulled out a knife. Tony wanted to scream at him to leave Gibbs alone, but he couldn't find the strength. His vision had doubled over from the pain in his shoulder.

"Hey, Devllynn, do you want to help?" Landon asked the dark haired girl. "I know it's your favorite part."

Devllynn smiled and dug around in her handbag. She produced two small vials. She placed one to Tony's wound and waited patiently as the flask slowly filled with blood. Devllynn tossed the other flask to Landon, who grinned evilly at Gibbs.

"This one's a fighter." he told Chad. "It's taking all my self control not to kill him here and now."

Chad rolled his eyes. He seemed to be the leader of this group. He crossed his arms and frowned at Landon.

"Ex-Marine, lead investigator for a federal agency. Figured you'd want to take him down."

Landon placed his knife to Gibbs's throat. Gibbs stared hard at him. Insanity and longing sparked in Landon's blue eyes. Gibbs really got a look at him. Landon couldn't be older than twenty-one.

"Is that permission?" Landon asked greedily.

Through the haze that had fogged over his vision, Tony saw Landon place a knife to his boss's throat. Tony struggled to summon the words to tell off Landon.

"L-leave him alone." Tony slurred.

They ignored him. Gibbs looked at his senior agent reassuringly. Tony cursed himself for getting shot. Here he was, slumped against a wall while they were discussing the rest of Gibbs's life. He felt so useless.

"You can't kill him yet." Chad told Landon. "Soon though."

"Why not?" Landon growled.

A grin made its way onto Chad's handsome face. He sneered down at Gibbs when he spoke to Landon.

"If this is 'The One', then you'll want to make him suffer." Chad's voice was like venom. Gibbs could almost see him turn into a snake before his eyes.

Tony watched in horror as Landon drew his knife across Gibbs's forehead. Gibbs clamped his eyes shut and bit down on his tongue. He had felt worse pain and Tony was probably in a whole lot more pain than him. Gibbs felt warm, sticky, blood snake its way down his face. Landon placed the vial to Gibbs's wound, watching with morbid fascination as the vial slowly filled with blood. When it was filled, Landon held the vial up to his nose and took a big whiff, and sighed in pleasure.

"It smells bitter-sweet." Landon told Gibbs. "Bitter, because you have blood on your hands."

"I'm a cop," Gibbs said through gritted teeth. "It's part of the job."

Landon shook his head. "No, you've killed out of pure hate." He took another sniff. "Revenge, maybe?"

Gibbs clenched his teeth but didn't say anything.

"And sweet," Landon continued. "Because you have a soft side you rarely show, but it is always there."

Tony felt the cold steel tip of a gun press to his temple. He looked up to see Chad's cold brown eyes staring at him. Devllynn appeared to have a problem with her boyfriend pointing a gun at Tony.

"I'm going to tie you up." Landon calmly told Gibbs." If you try to resist, your buddy over there gets shot."

Gibbs sat up and allowed Landon to bind his arms and legs. Landon snatched the flask filled with Tony's blood. He smelled it and turned his head away in disgust. Devllynn took it back and inhaled deeply.

Landon looked at Tony like he was some terrible creature. "Yours is very strong." he said flatly. "You're a ladies man who can't make up his mind."

Devllynn rolled her eyes and threw here arms around Tony, ignoring his cry of pain. "I like it." she said, even though it didn't have a scent different from all other bloods.

"I think you're crazy." Chad snorted. "It all smells the same to me."

Tony's mind drifted and he fought to stay conscious. Through the mist of pain, Tony watched Landon drive his fist into Gibbs's stomach. Gibbs groaned but did nothing else to let on he was hurt. Landon chuckled eerily.

"What's your famous gut telling you now?"

Chad leaned against a wall a yawned. He was bored. He had seen the act about a million times, and it was getting old. Landon was never completely satisfied with people they got, but this Gibbs man seemed promising. Devllynn moved to Chad's side and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I think we should keep Mr. Anthony DiNozzo as a pet." she said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Tony's brains didn't really process what she had said, he honestly didn't care. Chad shook his head disapprovingly at his girlfriend. They had rules to live by and he was not going to make a change for Devllynn, even if he loved her unconditionally.

"No." Chad whispered in Devllynn's ear. "You know how it works; we've got to kill both of them."

Devllynn gave a small smile and shrugged her shoulders. It didn't really make a difference to her. Devllynn moved from Chad's side and kneeled in front of Tony. She leaned forward, brushed her lips against his. She pulled back and placed her hands on Tony's shoulders.

"I tried." Devllynn told him softly.

Devllynn squeezed Tony's shoulders, putting pressure on his wound. A strangled cry of pain escaped his mouth before he fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Gibbs ground his teeth and rammed his forehead into Landon's. Landon was surprised, but he punched Gibbs in the face and continued to beat on him. His fist connected with Gibbs's temple, causing Gibbs to black out. Landon stood up, wiping Gibbs's blood from his hands.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Is he 'the one'?"

A grin spread across Landon's face. "He's a fighter." He paused and looked between Gibbs and Tony's fallen forms. "He's definitely the victim I've been looking for."

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><p><em>I just wanna clarify that, no, Landon is not a vampire. He's just a creepy psychopath. And he pretty scary. But he's probably my favorite OC that charlie has ever created so far. Well, I hate him cuz he kidnapped Gibbs and Tony, but other than that, I like him. Oh, and if you have read charlie's first NCIS fic, Ari's Revenge, she will be writing a sequel after she finishes writing this. And if you haven't read it, you should. <em>

_And charlie has a goal to get at least 30 reviews on this, so it would be awesome if you helped out and left a review. I don't really care how short it is, but I love reading longer reviews and getting your full opinion on the story. So even if you hate this story, you should still leave a review._


	2. Bete Noire

_Okay, so I decided to be nice and post chapter two today because of all the awesome reviews this got for the first chapter. Also, I wanted to say that I made a mistake in my last author's note. Charlie will not be writing a sequel to Ari's Revenge. But she will be writing a new NCIS fic after she finishes this story. And you should still read Ari's Revenge. And in response to some reviews for chapter one: This story will NOT become a Tibbs slash fic. Charlie doesn't write or read slash, and neither do I. We don't have any major problems with it, but its just weird and kinda disturbing. If you do read slash, please don't be offended and stop reading this story. _

_Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed chapter one! Its awesome that you all like the story so far, and I hope you all continue to read this story! And by the way, the part of this chapter that is in italics is Gibbs's dream sequence. Well, its actually more like a nightmare._

_I don't own NCIS. I might own it in an alternate universe though. I'll probably never find out._

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><p>Tony cracked his eyes open and quickly clamped them shut. The light gave him a headache. With a groan, he rolled himself over. Like a roaring fire, pain flared in his shoulder. Tony's eyes snapped open and he suppressed a cry of pain. Sweat formed on his brow and his heart raced. Right now it hurt more than when he first got shot- he got shot! Everything came rushing back at that moment.<p>

"Boss?" Tony asked hoarsely.

No answer.

"Boss?" Tony asked again.

Tony lifted his head, ignoring the pain that coursed through his body. Tony saw Gibbs lying about a foot away from him, looking like he had been his by a truck. Tony reached out and placed two fingers on Gibbs's neck, desperately searching for a pulse. It was there, nice and steady.

"Did that to you about ten minutes ago, DiNozzo," Gibbs said without opening his eyes.

"Where are we?" Tony asked.

Gibbs sighed. He was the team leader, the boss, everyone expected him to know everything. He knew a lot and he was good at figuring things out, just not right off the bat. Gibbs instantly thought about Ducky and remembered how he would always ask for the time of death before it was estimated. Gibbs look at Tony and gave the simplest answer he could think of.

"In the back of a truck."

"How long have we been on the road?"

Gibbs sat up and propped himself up against the truck wall and stared at Tony for a minute before he noticed the younger man was sweating. Gibbs moved closer to Tony and took off his jacket. His white T-shirt was blood soaked and turning brown.

"How's your shoulder?" Gibbs asked, ignoring Tony's question.

"It was a through and through, Boss. I'm alright. How's your face?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and a surprised look spread across Tony's face as if he couldn't believe he just said that.

"That's not what I meant!" Tony said quickly. "It's just that-" Doing the best thing he knew how to do, he changed the subject. "This reminds me of that movie Tuck Everlasting."

Gibbs nodded, only half listening. He examined Tony's wound. It didn't look like it was in immediate danger of infection. Tony's skin wasn't hot and he wasn't running a fever. That was always a good sign. The pain was what was making him sweat.

"Only," Gibbs said, interrupting Tony, "We weren't kidnapped because we saw something we shouldn't have."

"You've watched the movie?"

"Read the book."

"You read?" Tony asked, confused.

"Sometimes."

Tony sat himself up straight and leaned against the wall. "That book is only like 120 pages long."

Gibbs's blue eyes locked onto Tony's green ones. Tony wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw a flicker of pain in his boss's eyes.

"It was one of Kelly's favorites." Gibbs said, almost too quietly for Tony to hear.

Tony looked away. That was a real conversation stopper. Tony was on the need to know basis about his boss's deceased family, and he knew Gibbs didn't like to talk about it. Tony honestly didn't want to know, hearing about it almost brought tears to Tony's eyes.

The truck lurched, almost sending the two agents sprawling. They had stopped. Both men sat there and waited, unable to do anything else. They strained their ears to see if they could hear anything useful. The front doors of the truck opened, and then slammed shut. Gibbs listened and heard pieces of a hushed conversation.

"Get ready…blindfold…now."

The back door flipped open and light poured into the truck, washing over the two agents. A pleasant, earthy smell filled the back of the truck. Gibbs almost smiled at the familiar scent, but he repressed it. Tony found it familiar too, but couldn't put his finger on where he had smelled it before.

"Tony DiNozzo," Chad called. "You come out first."

Tony looked to his boss for guidance. Gibbs nodded and Tony climbed out the back of the truck to be roughly grabbed by Chad and a gun forced to his head.

"Now you, Mr. Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Landon said menacingly.

Gibbs stepped out to be greeted with a rifle pointed at his chest. Landon smiled wickedly and fingered the trigger like there would be nothing better than to cut down the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs at that moment.

Seeing that, Tony growled, "Leave him alone."

Gibbs shot Tony a glance to shut up but Tony either ignored it or didn't catch the warning glance. So he kept talking.

"So Landon," Tony said casually, "You seem to be the kind of goon who likes to hear people scream and cry."

Gibbs wanted to slap Tony so bad at that moment. He took the time Tony was using talking to look around. They were in the woods surrounded by trees taller than most buildings. To the left there was a log cabin so small it probably couldn't hold more than two people.

Landon took his eyes off of Gibbs for a moment to turn around and slap Tony. That's all it took. Gibbs twisted the rifle out of Landon's grip and kneed him in the gut. Landon fell to the ground holding his stomach. When he looked up, he found his own gun pointed at his forehead.

A gunshot rang out and the birds who had settled themselves in the trees took flight. Tony knew the shot had not come from the rifle or the small gun pointed at his head.

"Gibbs!" Tony screamed.

The bullet had buzzed past Gibbs's ear and imbedded itself deep into the bark of a nearby tree. Devllynn stepped out of the cabin holding a pistol. Smiling wickedly, she extended her arm and took aim at Gibbs.

"I'm a terrible shot," Devllynn admitted, "But I'm sure I could hit you eventually. Now be a good little Marine and give Landon his gun back."

Gibbs did not move.

"I see you don't seem concerned about yourself," Devllynn commented, "What about your partner?"

Chad pressed his gun roughly against Tony's temple and nodded at Devllynn. Gibbs dropped the gun and let his hands drop to his side. Landon picked up the rifle and scrambled to his feet. This one was definitely a fighter. A fighter who may be able to best him.

"Turn around," Landon instructed, irritated he'd been beaten so easily.

Gibbs reluctantly did so, not wanting another round to go through Tony. Landon raised his weapon and brought it down on Gibbs's skull. Gibbs fell to his knees and fought the blackness that crept at the edge of his vision. Tony struggled against Chad's hold, screaming insults at Landon. He couldn't just stand there and watch his boss go down. Landon brought the gun down again and Gibbs crumpled to the ground and didn't move.

_"Boss?" McGee croaked, trying to hold in the blood pouring from a wound in his chest. Gibbs pressed down on the bullet wound, attempting to save the young agent's life. Another series of gunshots exploded on the other side of the room where the shooter who infiltrated NCIS was firing wildly._

_"Save your breath, McGee," Gibbs told him, "We're going to get you out of this alive."_

_"Gibbs," McGee said, grabbing onto his boss's wrist, "I'm not…I'm not going to get out of here…help the others…"_

_McGee gasped and his grip on Gibbs's wrist loosened. His eyes glazed over and Gibbs knew he was gone. Gibbs stood up and tried to ignore the emotion that crashed upon him like a tidal wave. Ziva, who had been hiding behind her desk, crawled over and yanked on the sleeve of Gibbs's jacket._

_"Get down!" she hissed._

_Gibbs dropped down on all fours next to Ziva, and the two crawled under Tony's desk and helplessly listened as gunshot after gunshot echoed through the room and people screamed. A body fell off the balcony and Gibbs couldn't bring himself to look at it._

_"Who-?"_

_"Vance," Ziva answered quietly._

_Gibbs crawled over to the bodies of two young agents who had died in each other's arms. Gibbs couldn't remember their names at that moment, but he felt terrible they had died so young. He grabbed their guns and tossed one to Ziva._

_"I can't just sit here," he told her, "while other people die."_

_"I agree," replied Ziva._

_The two quietly crawled towards the sound of the shooter. They tried to block out the sounds of dying and the silence of the dead. Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw a figure hunched over a body. Gibbs quickly changed his course and Ziva followed unquestionably. They found the figure to be Tony, and when they got closer they saw who the body was._

_"No," Gibbs breathed._

_"I tried to save her, Boss," Tony said through choked sobs."_

_Ziva slung her arm around Tony's shoulders and gently patted his back, unsure of what else to do. Gibbs leaned forward and gently closed Abby's eyes. Ziva's eyes fell upon a shuttering figure and she was quickly at his side._

_"Ducky," she breathed._

_Ducky was alive, but barely. Blood poured out of the wounds on his torso. Gibbs could see his friend was not going to make it. Ziva pressed down on his wounds, uselessly trying to stop the bleeding._

_"Where's the autopsy gremlin?" Tony asked, finding no humor in Jimmy Palmer's nickname._

_Ducky shook his head. Ziva insisted on staying behind with him. Tony and Gibbs moved forward through the maze of dead bodies. The shooter was in sight. He wore black sweats and his face was concealed by his hoodie. Someone tapped Gibbs on the shoulder. He swirled around and nearly shot Ziva's face off. Just by looking at her, he could tell that Ducky had passed._

_Another round of shots came around. Ziva slumped to the ground and Tony's eyes widened in surprise, and they quickly turned to rage. Tony ran blindly at the shooter. A single shot rang out and Tony went down._

_Gibbs stood up and aimed his gun. The shooter lowered his weapon and laughed at Gibbs. Gibbs fired. The bullet dug deep into the shooter's sternum. The man fell backwards but continued to laugh. The shooter reached up and pulled his hood down to reveal a familiar face._

_Gibbs looked himself in the eye and was shocked when he, the shooter, stood up. They wind was knocked out of Gibbs and he tumbled to the floor. Blood poured from his middle section; he had shot himself after all. The shooter smiled down at him._

_"We are one in the same."_

_The shooter burred and disappeared entirely, but Gibbs understood. He had caused all this damage and destruction himself._

Gibbs opened his eyes to find himself lying on the back in a dimly lit room. It smelled of anti- bacterial. Their attackers were patching up their wounds? That really confused him because Landon seemed real eager to do away with him.

Speak of the devil…

"Hello, Jethro," Landon said, appearing in Gibbs's line of sight. "You awake from one nightmare to find yourself deep in another. Such a pity."

Gibbs turned his head to the side, looking for his senior field agent. He found Tony on a metal table just like his. Tony looked much better than he had the last time Gibbs had seen him. Tony eyed Gibbs worriedly.

"I don't use painkillers," Landon warned as he threaded a needle.

Over the next couple minutes, Landon stitched up the wound on Gibbs's forehead. Gibbs lost count after seven stitches, but he imagined there were eleven. After Landon finished, Chad and two people led Gibbs and Tony to a room sort of like a cell, except there were about forty people cramped into the small space.

They looked at Tony and Gibbs like they had some infectious disease. The two settled themselves onto the hard, cold floor, not even trying to get comfortable.

They were going to be there a while.

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><p><em>Depressing nightmare, huh? I almost cried the first time I read it...except for when Vance fell off the balcony and died. I laughed at that part...yep, I hate Vance. Anyways, I have to go now. So you won't have to read a very long authors note right now.<em>

_Keep leaving awesome reviews! Or reviews saying you hate this story, I don't really care. Just as long as its a review._


	3. First To Die

_Okay, I finally got around to typing this! Yay! Before I forget, I wanted to thank everybody who reviewed again! You're all awesome and I am giving you a virtual hug right now! Oh, and if you saw the NCIS season premiere and understood it, could you please explain it to me in a review or a PM. Cuz I didn't get it at all, and neither did Charlie. And by the way, a new character will be introduced in this chapter. Her name is Xhail and its pronounced like Kyle. Don't ask me, I didn't come up with the name. Charlie did._

_Yep, still don't own NCIS. I can only say I own it on opposite day._

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><p>The other victims didn't want anything to do with Gibbs and Tony. Two and two clicked together fairly well. Landon, Devllynn, and Chad were the serial kidnappers. But there were only forty people here. What happened to the other sixty? What did they do with all of them?<p>

The door opened and everybody but Tony and Gibbs scrambled back into a corner, afraid of what would come. A man with unkempt red hair poked his freckled face into the room and sneered at the group of people.

"Who's hungry?" he asked in a phony British accent.

A teenage boy with dark skin and a shaved head stepped forward. He look like a stick, like one well placed hit would take him down. His eyes darted back and forth nervously, as if some monster was going to pop out at him.

"I'm hungry," he mumbled.

The man smiled to reveal crooked teeth. "Are you now? Well if you're just hungry now, than you can wait another three days."

Gibbs wanted to shoot this man. He was cruel and vile. He enjoyed other people pain and suffering, but he wasn't as bad as Landon. The group of people whined. It was clear they were all very hungry. Tony winced as he looked at the fragile beings in the room. They were all so broken.

'That's going to be me in a few days,' Tony though bitterly.

"Come on, Gary!" someone whined. "We're starving!"

The man with the red hair, Gary, chuckled and threw in a giant chunk of raw meat. It was old, something green was growing on it, and Tony was pretty sure he had seen it move. Despite the total grossness of the food, if you could even call it that, the people leapt on the mound of meat like a pride of hungry lions. Gary watched with amusement. He did not try to hide the fact that he was psychopath. He cast his grey eyes on Gibbs and Tony.

"Not hungry?" he asked, pouting out his bottom lip.

Tony shook his head quickly. Gibbs just glared at Gary. Those people shouldn't be to the point where rotting meat seems like a delicacy. Gary cheered them on as they beat each other up for chunks of meat. Again he turned his attention to the two NCIS agents.

"Which one of you is Gibbs?"

Neither one of them answered.

"Because Landon wants to have a word with you."

Gibbs stood up and walked to Gary. Tony had half a mind to stop him, but he decided against it because he really wanted to keep his hand.

Gary turned around for one second to close the door and when he turned back around, Gibbs was gone.

Gibbs sprinted down a dark hallway, passing doors that could have any number of things behind them. First things first, he needed a weapon, and then he would come back for Tony and the others. Gibbs rounded a corner to find a dead end, but it was a little lighter there than it was in the other hallways. Gibbs looked to find a trap door with a string attached, like those that led to an attic.

Gibbs pulled the cord and a ladder came down. He began to climb when he stopped and looked behind him. No one was there. Weren't they looking for him? They must not have thought he could find his way out. Gibbs climbed to the top and poked his head out. He was under a table, which he assumed was in the small cabin.

Gibbs stepped off the ladder and carefully shut the hatch. When he turned around, Landon stood there with his arms crossed. Oddly, he didn't look mad, he looked almost pleased. He flicked his head to the side, indicating for Gibbs to follow. Gibbs did so reluctantly. It was possible he could swipe a weapon from his captors.

Landon led him into a small room. Brown stains covered the cement floor, and it wasn't coffee. Gibbs's eyes rested on Landon. He looked like a normal young man, but Gibbs knew that behind the mask, Landon was a psychopathic sadist.

Gibbs cleared his throat. "I was told you wanted to see me."

Without warning, Landon punched Gibbs in the chest. Gibbs wasn't fazed by it. He made a grab for Landon's neck, but the sadist kicked him in the stomach before he got the chance. Something heavy came crashing down on Gibbs's head and his vision blurred.

'Not again,' Gibbs though angrily.

When his vision cleared, he saw Landon standing before him with a bat in one hand and a syringe in the other. Landon stabbed the needle into Gibbs's neck and watched as the effects of the liquid took its toll on the Marine.

The liquid numbed Gibbs at first, but as it made its way through his system, it turned into searing pain. Gibbs clenched his teeth and swore at Landon under his breath.

Landon's fist connected with Gibbs's jaw. Due to the pain, Gibbs could not fight back. The pain brought him to his knees, and then Gibbs found himself lying on his back with Landon kicking him in the ribs. Gibbs's vision clouded over and his world went black.

"Lisa! Don!" Landon called.

A woman and a man appeared and waited for Landon's orders. Don had salt and pepper hair that went well with his watery blue eyes. Lisa could have been the third Olson twin.

"Take him to his new home," Landon ordered, gesturing to Gibbs.

The two picked up Gibbs and carried him out without saying anything. Landon strode out of the room and met with Devllynn and Chad in another room. They both stood over a computer, watching a tape of Landon and Gibbs's encounter. Chad leaned back in his chair and smiled triumphantly.

"How long will it take to edit?" Landon snapped.

"Already done," Chad replied.

Landon nodded to himself. Thing were going well.

…

Tony sat and waited for Gibbs to come back. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours, and Gibbs had yet to return. The people who had earlier acted like he had the plague again were now giving him sympathetic looks. It angered Tony. They knew what was going on and he didn't. Finally, someone found the courage to approach him. It wasn't even an adult; it was a little girl no older than seven. She had long brown hair that went the whole way down to her waist, though her sparkling green eyes were what caught Tony's attention.

"Who was that man?" the little girl asked Tony.

Tony stared at her, trying to understand what she meant. Was she talking about Gibbs? She obviously saw Tony's confusion, so she rephrased her question.

"The man with the silver hair and blue eyes."

"His name is Leroy Jethro Gibbs," Tony explained. "He's my boss."

"Was," a voice corrected, "He's probably dead now."

It was the boy who had boldly told Gary he was hungry. Now the look of helplessness was gone, replaced with one of anger and hatred. His eyes could have pierced metal. His stance was stiff like he was extremely ticked off. Why would he say Gibbs was dead?

"Don't say that, Daniel," the little girl whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, "It might be different this time."

Daniel rolled his eyes and walked back into the pack of people without another word. The little girl shifted her emerald eyes back onto Tony and mustered a smile.

"I'm Xhail Morrison, and you are?" Xhail asked, trying to sound grown up.

Tony smiled. "Anthony DiNozzo."

"I'll call you Tony," she stated warmly.

Without thinking, Tony reached out and ruffled her hair, messing it up. Xhail laughed loudly. The sound was foreign to the prisoners like they had heard it in another life and were just remembering what it was. But most of all, it gave them hope. Hope that someday they were going to get out of this terrible place, away from their psycho captors.

"Where's your family?" Tony asked Xhail.

"I don't have a dad, and the last time I saw my mom, she fell asleep in a pool of red Kool-Aid that she spilled."

Tony held his breath so he wouldn't gasp, he didn't want to alarm Xhail. He knew kids freaked out if they thought anything was wrong. Xhail kept talking, telling Tony about her older brother Ethan, who was her best friend.

The door swung open and Landon himself stepped in and smiled wickedly at his prisoners as they scurried away from him like scared animals. Tony stood up and faced Landon, unafraid.

"Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.

Landon cocked his head to the side, indicating for Tony to follow him. Tony cautiously followed, unsure of what else to do. Landon led him into a small room with a junked TV in it. Chad stood in the corner and clicked a button on the ancient television, surprisingly it worked. Landon sat Tony on a chair in the middle of the room and directed his attention at the screen.

The screen showed a concrete room. Then two people came into view: Gibbs and Landon. Then he watched as the fight began. Tony tried to get up and hurt Landon, but he was weighed down by the shock of what he was seeing. On the TV, Landon was beating Gibbs and he wasn't fighting back.

Tony leapt out of his chair and screamed in rage as he watched Gibbs go limp. His fists found their way to Landon's face. Tony screamed curses and insults as he continuously punched his boss's killer. Tony didn't stop when he heard Landon's nose break. No, he wanted this man dead, right there and then. Tony managed to wrap his hands around Landon's neck and he squeezed. He felt the killer's pulse and had a sickening desire to drag out Landon's death, make it as slow and painful as he could because Landon had done that to Gibbs. Beaten to death, that was truly a terrible way to die.

Chad yanked Tony off of Landon and smacked him across the face with the butt of his gun. Tony stopped his assault, all the adrenalin draining from him, but his hatred for Landon stayed. He felt numb. And not the good kind of numb.

Tony distantly felt himself being led to the cell. He distantly felt the eyes of the other prisoners on him. Somewhere in the fog of his numb brain, Tony heard Daniel say, "I told you so." Tony sat himself in a corner and waited for his mind to clear. The haze didn't lift until Xhail climbed onto his lap and rested her head on his chest.

"They took my brother Ethan," Xhail told him softly.

Everyone joined in telling Tony who they had lost along the way. They were finally accepting Tony into their group. Each on personally told him their name, but he didn't care.

For the first time in a long time, Tony allowed himself to cry.

* * *

><p><em>I have no freakin' idea where Charlie comes up with this BS. Probably from hanging around with me too much.<em>

_And to answer some question I have received in reviews: Yes, there will be more Tony whump (Yay!). And chapter five will be centered around the team grieving the disappearance of Gibbs and Tony. It will be set about a month after Gibbs and Tony got kidnapped. I hope that answers your questions, comments, and all that other crap._

_I will try to update this weekend._


	4. Premonitions and Gummy Bears

_Okay, so I wanna clarify that Gibbs is NOT dead. You will find this out in this chapter. And now I wanna tell you a story. Yesterday, charlie was stupid enough to name the fish in our band room after NCIS characters. Ten minutes later, we found McGee dead at the bottom of the tank. And we haven't gotten the autopsy report back. Also, Vance mysteriously disappeared hours later._

_And I still don't own NCIS. _

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><p>Tony was awakened from his nightmare-plagued sleep by an earsplitting scream. Oddly, this didn't concern him, he'd heard it enough in the last three weeks to know better than to jump up and find what was wrong because he already knew the answer. Three weeks had passed since Landon had killed Gibbs. Three agonizing weeks.<p>

Tony sat up slowly and scanned the dark room for the source of the scream. His eyes had long adjusted to the damp and dark environment. The shrieks came from a woman in her late forties named Maggie. Xhail curled closer to Tony, for she knew what had happened too.

"They took her!" Maggie shrieked. "They took Rose!"

A pang of sadness struck Tony's heart. He had like Rose, she was pretty and kind. Every once in a while, someone would disappear and never come back. So far they had only lost people, no new victims had arrived.

Everyone had fallen back asleep except for Tony after the announcement that Rose was gone. Tony just laid in the dark, listening to the sounds of Xhail breathing. He jumped when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Tony rolled over to see Devllynn's pale face staring back at him. His first instinct was to hurt her, but he was interested to know why she was here.

"Landon doesn't know I'm here," Devllynn whispered, "Come with me."

Tony detached himself from Xhail, being careful not to wake her. Tony didn't trust Devllynn. He didn't like her either, but if Landon wasn't aware of her visit to Tony, maybe she wasn't all bad. Tony stood up and looked into Devllynn's dark eyes. She really was beautiful.

"I'm not leaving them," Tony said, pointing to the other prisoners.

"We'll come back for them," Devllynn promised.

Tony reluctantly followed her out into the hallway. The halls were empty, which was very suspicious. Devllynn placed her hand over her mouth and stifled a yawn as they walked. Devllynn turned to face Tony, a smile threatening to break across her face. She gently placed her hands on Tony's chest and she pushed him into a wall, kissing him deeply. Tony felt something pass through his lip and he quickly pushed her away. The object slithered down his throat.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

Devllynn smiled and walked further down the hall. Tony tried to follow, but his legs turned to jelly. It took all his strength to support himself. Tony slowly slid to the ground and found his lungs rapidly pumping air in and out, a cold sweat surfaced on his skin. Tony closed his eyes and tried to calm his racing heartbeat. When he opened his eyes, he found chocolate brown eyes staring back at him.

"Hi, Tony," Kate said.

Tony was repulsed by the sight of her. Kate wasn't her beautiful self that Tony had burned into his memory since her death. Kate had the bullet hole in the middle of her forehead, droplets of blood flowed from the wound. The back of her skull was blown out and he could see the mush that was once her brain.

"Tell me, Tony," Kate said, "Why didn't Ari go after the males of the team? Why aren't you the one with a bullet in your head?"

Tony had spent countless hours asking himself that very same question. He never truly found a satisfying answer. The images of Kate's death had never fully left him.

"Why, Tony?" Kate pressed, getting angry.

He didn't have an answer. Tony hung his head, unable to look at Kate any longer. He felt something warm and sticky on his face. Blood. Her blood. He frantically tried to wipe it off, but it was like a permanent marker. Kate smiled evilly at Tony, she didn't seem like herself.

"Why, Tony?" she repeated.

"It was Gibbs! Ari was after Gibbs! Not you or me!" The second the words were out of his mouth, Tony regretted them.

Kate seemed pleased with his answer, and then she was simply gone. So was the blood on his face. Another figure stood before Tony, this one more hideous than the last. Where her right arm was supposed to be was just a bloody stump with the bone sticking out. Most of her hair had been burned off and gruesome burns covered her face and most of her body. But unlike Kate, she looked sad.

"Did you love me, Tony?" Paula Cassidy asked.

"Of course, Paula," he stuttered.

Her watery eyes flicked to Tony. He was afraid of her and Kate, this wasn't natural. Tony shouldn't be having a conversation with his dead friends. This was really freaking him out.

"Then why did my team and I take the hit that was meant for your team?"

"Paula, it's not like that," Tony reasoned, "We didn't know."

"It doesn't matter!" Paula yelled. "You should've taken your shift, but you weaseled out of it!"

Paula kicked Tony hard in the shin and he was surprised at how much it hurt. Ghosts could hurt? But she wasn't a ghost to Tony. Paula was very real in his eyes. Then like Kate, she was simply gone. Ex-Director Shepard stood before him. He arms were crossed and blood poured from her wounds like and waterfall and created a lake at her feet. Jenny wore an expression of anger and sadness.

"If I was still director of NCIS, you would've been fired by now."

Tony just stared at her like she was an alien from another galaxy. Jenny looked real, but she couldn't be. Could she?

"I died to save Jethro," Jenny lectured. "And what do you do? Go and get him killed!"

Tears gathered at the corners of Tony's eyes. Jenny had died to protect Gibbs, and Tony had let them both down. Jenny began telling Tony the ways he could have prevented all this. Tony closed his eyes and waited for her to stop talking. When she did, he opened his eyes. What he saw made him double over and vomit.

"You never had a stomach for this kind of thing, DiNozzo," Gibbs said with a smirk.

A big ugly purple bruise covered his left temple. Blood leaked from the popped stitches on his forehead. Bruises and cuts covered most of Gibbs's body, he looked absolutely lurid. Even worse than Paula. The only part of Gibbs that looked like Gibbs was his ocean blue eyes.

"Boss," Tony croaked.

"Save it, Tony," Gibbs interrupted. "I understand you've been shaken over my death."

"Gibbs, I didn't know he was going to do that to you."

"I know you didn't. But I do know you knew how easily we could've taken Gary."

Tony felt sick to his stomach. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying it's your fault I'm dead."

It took every ounce of Tony's power not to vomit again. Tears spilled over and Tony broke down in sobs. He continuously apologized, forgetting apologizing was a sign of weakness. Before he knew it, Gibbs was gone and his vision was clouding over.

"I'm sorry, Boss," Tony whispered before he passed out.

* * *

><p>Gibbs sat with his index fingers to his temples. He massaged them lightly. A man named Spencer was chattering with his friend Cheese, and it was really getting on Gibbs nerves. Why? Because Cheese wasn't real. According to Spencer, Cheese was a gummy bear that only talked to him.<p>

"Shut up, Spencer!" Ethan screamed.

Spencer's grey eyes lost their glazed over look and he focused on Ethan standing next to Gibbs. Gibbs wasn't sure where Spencer's mind was, it was obvious the man had terrible mental issues, but he was also very smart.

"Cheese says 'no'," replied Spencer.

He began chatting with the gummy bear again. Gibbs stood up with a groan, his ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken from Landon. He was pretty sure at least one rib was broken. Gibbs dipped his hands in a bucket of murky water and took a long drink. The brown water felt like heaven to Gibbs's dry throat.

"Cheese says someone's coming," Spencer said without warning.

Real or not, Cheese knew his stuff. Cheese had never given a false warning. Everyone but Gibbs and Ethan scrambled to the back of the room to wait for their captors, silently hoping for food.

The door opened and Chad stepped in. Gibbs immediately knew he was there for him. He stood up and followed Chad into a small room with a TV, a chair, and a table. And of course, Landon was there too. Gibbs sat down and waited for them to say something.

Landon sat a bottle of cold water in front of Gibbs. Mist formed on the outside of the bottle, informing the NCIS agent that the water would be cold and refreshing. So much better than the warm and muddy water he'd been drinking the last couple of weeks. No matter how much his parched body told him he wanted water, Gibbs refused the urge to reach out and take it.

Landon didn't seem surprised that Gibbs refused the water. Landon admitted to himself he would have done the same thing. He nodded to Chad, who left then reappeared with a plate of steak and potatoes.

Gibbs could smell the food before he saw it. His stomach rumbled at the thought of edible food. When it was sat in front of him, he nearly dug in face first. It smelled so good and his starving stomach wanted it so bad, but he forced himself to look away from it. Gibbs faced a problem. If he told them he was hungry, he and the rest of the people in his cell would go hungry for the next week or so. But if he didn't eat it, they would probably hurt him. He chose the latter.

Landon shrugged and turned on the TV, which immediately caught Gibbs's attention because there was a picture of Tony slumped against a wall. He seemed to be listening to someone who Gibbs couldn't see or hear.

"What did you do to him?" Gibbs growled.

Landon placed his finger to his lips, shushing him. Gibbs realized at that moment the Landon's nose had been broken. He really wished he had been to one who did it.

On the screen Tony said something about Gibbs.

"I hate you, Boss!" Tony screamed. "This is all you fault!"

Gibbs was taken aback. On the television, Tony went completely still. They had killed him. Gibbs didn't lash out and attack them. No, he already had a plan of action running through his mind. All he had to do was wait. All he needed was the people in his cell.

Gary had escorted Gibbs back to his cell while Landon and Chad talked. Landon leaned against the wall. His body language suggested he was pleased, but his eyes remained cold and soulless.

"Do you think it worked?" Chad asked. "Do you think they believe the other is dead?"

"Yes," Landon replied. "I know it worked."

Landon took a small object out of his pocket and turned it over his hand. The label on the outside of the vial of blood read 'Leroy Jethro Gibbs'. Devllynn had insisted upon keeping Anthony DiNozzo's for herself. Landon laughed softly to himself, thinking of the events of the day.

"What is it?" Chad demanded.

Landon shook his head. "Nothing. I just love digital editing."

* * *

><p><em>So Tony's hallucinations in this chapter kinda freaked me out. And just to clarify, Tony is NOT dead either. All the evil psychos are trying to make them believe that the other is dead. Don't ask me why, cuz I don't know. And by the way, Spencer is another one of my favorite characters that charlie's created. I actually named him after my favorite character on Criminal Minds. And I really like Cheese too, even though he's not real.<em>

_So I have no idea when I'll update this. Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter typed in the next few days, but I don't know. Please continue to leave awesome reviews! And if you really, really hate this story more than anything else, you should still leave a review, even though I don't know why you would still be reading this if you hated it..._


	5. No Way

_Yeah, I know its been almost a week since my last update, but I was lazy. And it seems that even after I explained that Gibbs and Tony are not dead, you still seem to be a little confused. So I'm gonna say that I have no freakin' idea why the kidnappers want them to think the other is dead. Charlie probably doesn't either. Its most likely cuz they're a bunch of freakin' psychos! Sorry about my rant. It happens sometimes. So I'm just gonna shut up and let you read the chapter._

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><p>Ziva placed her head in her hands, letting her brown hair fall in front of her eyes. She gently rubbed her forehead and sighed softly. McGee stopped working and glanced over at Ziva. He was worried about her. When Gibbs and Tony first went missing, Ziva had taken the lead in searching for them. But days turned into weeks and weeks turned to months, and Ziva had lost faith in herself along the way.<p>

"Ziva," McGee said softly.

Ziva raised her head and glared at McGee with a look she had most definitely adopted from Gibbs. Ziva was angry with everyone. She hated the people who took Tony and Gibbs away from them, she hated the people at the agency who didn't take this seriously, and she hated herself for not finding them.

"Ziva, are you alright?"

"Yes, McGee, I am fine considering it's been over a month since Gibbs and Tony went missing and they are most likely dead. So, yes, I am fine," Ziva snapped.

McGee's phone rang; he had long since given up hope that it would be Gibbs and tony calling to say they were okay. McGee was now terrified it would be someone calling to report that their bodies had been found.

"Special Agent McGee," he said answering the phone.

"You and Miss David need to get up here now." It was Vance.

"Yes, sir."

McGee hung up and motioned for Ziva to follow him to MTAC. The two trudged up the stairs, the claws of fear playing their heartstrings like a guitar. McGee paused for the eyes scan, and then opened the door.

Vance's mouth was drawn in a thin line. He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but it had to be said. Vance led Ziva and McGee to empty chairs, and prepared himself for what he was about to say.

"You need to move on," Vance started.

"Excuse me?" Ziva asked angrily.

Vance held up a hand to quiet her and Ziva reluctantly shut up.

"Most kidnapping victims are killed in the first ninety-six hours. I, however, do not want to believe the Gibbs and DiNozzo have met that fate and I know for a fact neither of you want to think about it either. However, there has been no recent development in their case. So I'm assigning two new agents to your team."

"What?" Ziva roared.

"You need help with this case, you can't do it alone," Vance stated. "Face it, you're used to working as a team, and I feel you need help with-"

"We are perfectly capable of picking up the sack Gibbs and Tony left behind," Ziva interrupted.

"Slack," McGee corrected.

Vance rolled his eyes and motioned for someone to come forward. A man and a woman stepped out of the shadows. The man stood tall and confident. His hair was black and his eyes were grey-blue. The woman was small; she looked almost like a teenager. She had long fiery red hair that came down to her waist and her eyes were light brown. She appeared to be afraid of Ziva and McGee.

"This is Special Agent Justin Brown," Vance said, pointing at the man. "He's been an agent for seven years."

Brown shook Ziva and McGee's hands and sat down like he was already one of them. Ziva took an instant disliking to his cockiness. Brown seemed infatuated with himself; it seemed he considered himself a big shot.

"And this," Vance introduced, "is Special Agent Brianna Rain."

"Bree," she said sheepishly. "Please call me Bree."

Vance nodded. "You are Bree's first team."

Bree looked uncomfortable as she sat down beside McGee and Ziva. Vance explained that Brown and Bree would be helping with the 'Gibbs and DiNozzo' case. Ziva wasn't happy with that. She didn't like either of them for the simple fact they were there to replace Gibbs and Tony.

* * *

><p>Brown lounged lazily in Tony's chair like he didn't have a care in the world. He rummaged through the desk, just inviting himself in. Ziva fingered a paperclip, debating on which way to kill Brown with it. Ziva's eyes flew to Brown when he knocked Tony's Mighty Mouse stapler off his desk. She rushed over and held the object in her hands as if it were as fragile as tissue paper.<p>

"You can't sit there," Ziva snapped.

Brown shrugged and moved to Gibbs's desk and flipped through private files, meant only for the team's eyes. With a growl Ziva slammed her hand down on the desk, closing the file. Brown gazed up at her annoyed expression.

"You can't sit there either," she said through gritted teeth.

"Then where should I sit?"

"The floor, maybe," Ziva muttered.

"Is that any way to talk to me? You, Miss David, need your attitude checked," Brown retorted.

"Who perished and made you team leader?" Ziva growled.

"It's died. And your boss did."

Brown found himself on the floor with the tip of a misshaped paperclip pointed at his nose.

"Take that back," Ziva ordered.

"And if I don't?" Brown questioned.

"If you don't, this paperclip goes up your nose and into your brain."

"Yeah, like you're really going to do that," Brown snorted. "You have to face the fact that your co-workers are most likely dead."

The tip of the paperclip entered Brown's nostril and scratched the sensitive tissue. He began to struggle under Ziva's grasp. She wanted to kill him, but she refrained from doing so. Maybe she could "accidentally" bump it…

"Get this crazy chick off me!" Brown screamed.

Ziva felt McGee gently grip her shoulders. She let him pull her off of Brown, who stood up and held his nose as little droplets of blood trickled out of it. Ziva and Brown stared each other down. McGee felt a fight coming on, so he stepped in between them. McGee could feel the tension in the air like thick smoke.

"Field trip," McGee announced.

"To where?" Bree asked excitedly.

"The crime scene."

The four walked to the cars and had a quiet ride to Gibbs's house. When they had parked out front, they found Ducky's car in the driveway. McGee felt his stomach doing back flips, he couldn't get the look of pain and grief the elderly doctor had worn at the crime scene out of his head.

McGee opened the door and everyone shuffled in behind him. They found Ducky sitting in an arm chair with his head in his hands. He smiled weakly at them as they approached.

"What are you doing here?" Brown demanded. "This is a crime scene."

"It's okay, he's our ME," McGee assured.

"I thought you said they weren't dead!" Bree exclaimed.

The thought of dead bodies terrified Bree, as did the thought of possibly shooting someone. Ziva scared her too. Truth be told, she was easily frightened. But she had to become an NCIS agent. She owed it to her family.

"They aren't," Ducky told Bree softly. "And you are?"

They had their introductions and the team moved upstairs. McGee's eyes were glued to the blood stains on the floor and wall. It wasn't enough for someone to bleed out, but just same, it was blood. Most likely Gibbs and Tony's blood.

"They were hurt when they were taken," Bree said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Bree had never met Gibbs or Tony, but strangely she felt she had to help them. In a way she knew they were alive, but she also knew they didn't have much time. It was a strange feeling really. It started in the pit of her stomach and made its way up.

"They're alive," Bree said. "I can feel it. In my…In my gut, you know?"

McGee smiled. "Yeah, I know." McGee shook her hand in greeting. "Welcome to the team, Probie."

* * *

><p><em>I really, really, hate Brown. I think he's an arrogant buttface. But I really like Bree though. Oh, and ya know how I told you about McGee the fish dying last week? Now all the fishies are dead cuz the idiots who cleaned the tank last used cold water instead of room temperature and they all freakin' died. I'm still not sure how Gibbs died, cuz we found him in the filter thingy. And the autopsy report on McGee is still missing.<em>

_I have no freakin' idea when I'll post the next chapter, so don't ask me. And the next chapter will be centered on Gibbs and Tony. I think its just Tony, but I'm not sure._


	6. Mind Games

_I know its been like a week since I updated last, and its not my fault this time! The messenger who gives me charlie's notebook on the bus every day decided to be a huge derp and leave it at school. But after almost two days of spazzing out, charlie finally found it. So that's why I haven't updated in a week. _

_I don't own NCIS. Sadly, I never will._

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><p>Tony stared at the slab of rotten meat in his hand. Just the sight of it made him want to puke up the acid in his empty stomach. Without the food, he would die of starvation. He wouldn't make it to the next feeding day if he didn't eat now. Tony morbidly wondered if it would be best that he died. Selfishly he wanted to. Gibbs was dead and if he were to get out alive he would always have Gibbs's death hanging over his head. But he couldn't leave Xhail; the poor girl had already lost so much.<p>

"It's not that bad," Xhail told him, finishing her portion.

In the month he had stayed there, the only food he had gotten was aged cabbage. This was the first of the rotten meat he had been given to eat. Tony raised it to his mouth and ate. It tasted better than the cabbage, but that wasn't saying much.

Xhail smiled. She loved Tony, his eyes were the same shade of brilliant green as her brother's. Ethan, she missed him terribly. Tony cringed as the food slid down his throat, but it did tame his hunger just a little. Xhail climbed onto Tony's lap and hugged him around the neck.

"I think I need a bath," Xhail joked.

"I think we could all use a bath," Tony replied. "If we jumped in a lake it may make some improvement."

They both smiled, but they were a long way off from laughter. Tony briefly wondered if he'd ever laugh again. Happiness was a foreign word to him now, hope was quickly becoming extinct. Most of Tony's hope flew out the window when he was given word that Gibbs had been killed. Together the two could have escaped, but minus one from the equation and there goes their chances of getting out.

Xhail got off Tony's lap and joined two other kids, Daniel and a nine year old named Katrina. The group played tic-tac-toe with the dust on the floor. Tony watched slightly amazed that their childish spirits had yet to be broken. Xhail whooped in delight and stood up, twirling around in her dirty sundress, which had probably been white in another life. It flared around her, making her look like a springtime flower, announcing her victory.

Tony, in a strange way, felt responsible for Xhail. She had been there for him in his time of need, he wanted to be there for her.

The door swung open and hit the wall with a bang. Lisa and Don stepped in and grabbed Xhail, while Gary watched from the doorway. Tony grabbed Don's arm and squeezed hard. Don tried to punch him, but found Tony's arm around his neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tony growled in his ear.

"Landon wants her?" Don exclaimed, terrified.

"Well, he's going to have to settle for me."

"But he wants her?" Don insisted.

"Quit yer bickerin'," Gary interrupted. "We'll take both of them."

Tony felt a prick on his arm and the world swirled before his eyes. He felt himself falling, but the ground never met him. Someone must have caught him. Tony was vaguely aware of Xhail calling his name, but he was unable to answer. A grey blur flew past his eyes so quick, he almost threw up. When the scenery stopped moving, he saw Landon's face. Tony took a look around and found he was no longer in his cell. Xhail sat in the corner of the room looking terrified.

"Tony?" Xhail squeaked.

"Shut it!" Landon snapped.

Xhail quieted and seemed to shrink. Tony was once again consumed with an overwhelming urge to end Landon's life. In his dreams that weren't nightmares, Tony fantasized about killing Landon.

"Leave her alone," Tony growled.

Landon laughed. He loved to see his victims frustrated. It gave him that little thrill that makes everything worth while.

"That's what your boss said."

"What?"

Landon smiled. "He told me to leave you alone. He pleaded with me to spare your worthless life."

"That doesn't sound like Gibbs," Tony said, getting angry.

"Trust me, Mr. DiNozzo, after being beaten to a pulp, you find yourself a changed man. At some point, your boss even begged for death."

"You're lying," Tony barked.

Tony had seen the video tap of Gibbs's death and he imagined a lot was cut out because all they wanted him to see was Gibbs dying. Gibbs knew he couldn't let Landon see he cared for Tony. And Tony knew Gibbs wasn't one to plead for anything.

"At one point your boss took me gun and instead of pointing it at me, he put it to his own head," Landon continued.

A picture of Gibbs with a gun to his head flashed through Tony's mind. The image sent shivers down the agent's spine. Tony had to remind himself that Gibbs had not committed suicide; he had been murdered by Landon.

"But to save his good name, I killed him."

"Don't talk about him!" Tony snarled.

"Stop it!" Xhail shrieked.

Tony's attention focused on the little girl again. Xhail had tears running down her dirty face, leaving flesh pink lines in their trails. Sobs wracked her body and she hugged her knees tightly. Tony wanted to take Xhail in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. Landon kneeled in front of Xhail. Taking her arm, he poked her with a syringe.

Tony was on Landon in a second, pounding his fists into every spot that would hurt the most. The sadist returned blows, unfazed by Tony's assault. Landon kicked Tony in the chest, sending him sprawling onto the floor.

"Don't cross me," Landon warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony replied sarcastically.

That witty remark earned Tony a slap to the face. He allowed Lisa and Don to drag him and Xhail back to the cell. Hours later, Xhail fell asleep in Tony's arms after crying herself out. Tony knew they had to get out soon or they would not get out at all.

* * *

><p><em>So this is chapter six, which means I have like ten more chapters to type. And possibly an alternate ending...charlie's only writing it because I basically threatened to kill her in her sleep if she didn't. Either that, or stick her in a box and send her to Cuba...or a colony of cannibals...or a colony of cannibals in Cuba.<em>

_Okay, so ya know how I said that Landon was my favorite character that charlie's ever created, aside from the fact that he kidnapped and tortured Tony and Gibbs? Well, now my favorite OC is either Xhail or Spencer. But Landon's still in the top five. _

_I should have the next chapter up around Monday...maybe. So again, I am very sorry for the week long gap in updating, even though its not my fault._


	7. Under The Knife

_Mwa ha ha ha! I'm back! Sorry about the creepiness, I'm kinda hyper at the moment! This chapter has one of my favorite scenes in the entire story in it! Well, at least so far. And I don't feel like typing a whole lot right now, so you are spared of reading an extremely long author's note!_

_I don't own NCIS. If I did, each season would be at least 30 episodes._

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><p>Gibbs sat against a wall holding his aching side, breathing heavily. It had been two months since Landon had broken his ribs, but they still hurt really badly. That was never a good sign. Gibbs could hardly move because of the pain. He believed his ribs were puncturing something important. Ethan, who Gibbs had come to like, brought Gibbs a couple of cabbage leaves.<p>

"You're not looking well," Ethan commented.

Ethan was a twelve year old boy with curly black hair, well-tanned skin, and bright green eyes that Gibbs had trouble looking into because Ethan and Tony had the same eyes. Gibbs looked at the cabbage and his stomach growled, but he knew he couldn't eat it because breathing hurt enough; eating was unbearable.

"We should be hoarding that food if we want the plan to fall into place," Gibbs pointed out.

Ethan nodded. "We are. Spencer has it, but we got to eat sometimes."

Ethan unconsciously rubbed his wrist. Earlier on, Chad and Devllynn had taken Ethan away and brought him back less than five minutes later. Gibbs wondered what they had wanted him for. Spencer stumbled over to Gibbs and Ethan. His eyes were clear; Cheese was not present.

"Are you sick?" Spencer asked Ethan.

"What?"

Spencer's eyes glazed over and Gibbs knew that the gummy bear had re-entered his mind. Spencer roughly grabbed Ethan's arm and examined his wrist. No one was surprised by this action because they knew when Cheese was present, Spencer had no control.

"Cheese says they gave you a shot."

Gibbs's attention was caught by that statement. Despite the pain, Gibbs crawled over to Ethan and examined his wrist. Ethan could see the mere task of moving was causing the NCIS agent extreme amounts of pain. Ethan shot Spencer a glance as if to say, 'Look what you've done.' Spencer never caught it.

"Do you feel alright?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm fine," Ethan said. "But we do have a problem with your plan."

"What's that?"

"The food's already rotten as it is. Keeping it any longer would risk food poisoning," Ethan stated.

Gibbs swore under his breath. He had seen this coming. He knew Landon was giving them rotten food so they couldn't collect it. Gibbs wished Landon would come in so he could wring his neck. Ethan once again offered Gibbs the cabbage leaves, which he took, but had no intention of eating. Gibbs looked around the room, at the thin figures of human beings all as skinny as sticks. Then he looked down at himself. He was one of them.

Gibbs reluctantly ate the cabbage leaves, noting that Landon had planned this too. He gave then food because they needed it to stay alive, but the food provided no nutrients so it left them weak and defenseless. No matter how much Gibbs hated Landon, he also respected him in a way for planning this all out, for making it almost fool proof. Almost, but not quite.

Gibbs didn't hear the door open, but he did see Landon standing in front of him with Lisa and Don at his sides. Landon kicked Gibbs in the ribs. All the air rushed out of his body and he couldn't inhale. Ethan rushed at Landon, but was stopped by Don. Gibbs desperately tried to breathe, but only short wisps of air came. He began coughing and blood flecked his hands. Landon laughed as he watched Gibbs struggle for air.

"Stand up," Landon ordered.

"Are you crazy?" Ethan screamed. "He can hardly breathe, let alone stand up!"

Landon just laughed.

"You killed my mom!" Ethan continued. "And you killed my little sister, Xhail! You're not taking him or anyone else!"

"He will come back alive," Landon promised. "Now stand up."

Gibbs unsteadily lifted himself off the ground. He placed a hand on the wall to keep himself from tumbling back onto the floor. The world swam before his eyes. Landon grabbed Gibbs by the shoulders and pushed him out the door. The hallway seemed to stretch on for miles. Each step was excruciating and the lack of oxygen was really getting to him.

Landon shoved Gibbs into a room. Devllynn and Chad stood by a metal table. Gibbs felt sick to his stomach when he realized what was going to happen. Landon led him to the table and forced him to lie down. Gibbs had no strength to resist. Then he saw the syringe. It plunged into his neck before he could react, he hoped it was sedative.

Landon produced a knife and held it over Gibbs's chest. Gibbs tried to protest, but found that the muscles in his mouth refused to work. All of his muscles refused to work. Gibbs couldn't even shut his eyes. Landon made a diagonal incision across the right side of Gibbs's chest. Gibbs felt the pain, but could do nothing about it.

Gibbs took notice that none of them had washed their hands and that nothing was sterile. They were practically begging for him to get an infection. Devllynn turned Gibbs's head to the side so that he could not only feel, but see the gruesome surgery.

Landon clicked his tongue. "We're going to have to re-break your ribs."

Gibbs watched in horror as Landon reached his dirty hand into his body. With a quick jerk, the first rib was broken. But it was the second ribs he was worried about. The second Landon placed his hand on the other rib, an immense pain filled Gibbs's body. Landon pulled and the bone stuck farther into the agent's lung. With a shuttering breath, Gibbs passed out, only to be awoken a few seconds later with smelling salts.

"We can't have you passing out," Landon chided.

Landon broke the rib and noticed Gibbs's lungs weren't pumping air correctly. They were hardly moving at all. He placed an air mask over Gibbs's face and continued to work. Landon stuck a tube into the lung and cleaned out all the liquid. Then he began talking to Gibbs.

"Your agent was pretty strong willed," Landon said. "It was a pity he had to die."

"I wanted to keep him," Devllynn interjected.

Gibbs wanted to kill them both for killing Tony. He felt as the first stitches went into the lung. It hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. Gibbs briefly wondered if he was going to make it out of surgery alive. They sure weren't trying to keep him alive.

Chad moved into Gibbs's line of sight. He was holding a knife, a big knife. He placed the tip to Gibbs's temple and smiled maliciously. A thin trail of blood snaked from where the rough tip of the knife touched tender skin.

"I hear you don't have the best eyes," Chad said. "I can fix them now. If you consider going blind fixing them."

Gibbs couldn't say or do anything to stop him, but he doubted Chad would carry out the threat. He watched Landon, who seemed to be amused with what he was doing. Gibbs felt a sharp pain near his sternum and watched as Landon's face changed from amusement to complete horror. Pain flared through Gibbs's whole body like he was submerged in a tank of lava. Gibbs watched as blood pumped out of his body. A haze fell over his eyes as the three began to work on him.

Devllynn pulled off her sweatshirt and placed it to the bleeding would, only to be smacked away by Landon, who was hastily trying to stop the bleeding. Chad dropped his knife and began to monitor Gibbs's pulse.

"He's going to bleed to death!" Devllynn cried.

Those were the last words Gibbs heard before everything went black.

* * *

><p><em>If you didn't guess, the Gibbs-getting-surgery part was my favorite. Yeah, I'm know I'm psycho. Oh, and Charlie will be writing another story after she is finished with this. And then another one after that. The one she will write after this is called Nothing Is Ever Forgotten. I don't know if it will be as awesome as this story, but it should be pretty good. <em>

_And Charlie has officially reached her 30 review goal! Yay! You should still review though, cuz we would both spaz if this got over 50 reviews! And I have no idea when I'm posting chapter 8. I always say I will in the next couple days, and then i get lazy and don't type it. I'll try to stop being lazy, I promise._


	8. Denial

_Hello, everybody! I know I said I would try to post this weekend, and I didn't. But its Monday, so its close enough, right? Anyways, this story is halfway over! Charlie is writing 15 chapters, plus an alternate ending which will be posted as chapter 16. I'll explain more about that near the end of the story. And when I post chapter 11 eventually, you will understand why I'm forcing Charlie to write an alternate ending. So...ON WITH THE STORY!_

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><p>Abby glanced longingly at her refrigerator, which held several Caf-Pows. She missed the artificial cherry flavoring and the little buzz she got from the caffeine. Abby picked up a bottle of water and sipped it. It sure wasn't Caf-Pow and she hated the taste. Gibbs would have been proud of her for going healthy.<p>

Gibbs.

Abby swirled around in her chair to see if he had come in without her knowledge. She had been doing that since Gibbs and Tony first went missing three months before. She missed them terribly and couldn't wait until they returned.

Ziva and McGee entered Abby's lab with a shaken Bree in tow. Bree's eyes were red and puffy from crying and McGee almost looked sad. Ziva remained emotionless, like usual.

"Oh, gosh," Abby said, terrified. "What happened?"

"Brown is dead," McGee said softly. "Bree found him."

Abby wrapped her arms around Bree's shaking form. No one like Brown, but no one wanted to see him dead. Well, maybe except for Ziva. Bree crouched down on the floor and cried into her hands.

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"His appendix burst," Ziva said. "Bree went to his house to talk to him. She found him dead in the shower."

"But that's not why we came here though," McGee said sadly.

A sense of dread washed over Abby. She wanted to plug her ears and run a thousand miles away. But she stayed rooted to the floor, willing McGee not to tell her what she knew was coming.

"Vance told us to drop the case, Abby," McGee said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Tony and Gibbs were pronounced dead this morning."

Abby collapsed into a sobbing heap in McGee's arms. She cried unintelligible words, not caring what anyone thought. Ziva came over and hugged the two. Bree stood up and found they had stretched arms for her. She gladly joined in.

"Just because they say they are dead, does not mean they are," Ziva whispered.

"How will you save them if you aren't allowed?" Abby wailed.

"We can do it," Bree said, feeling out of place. "But they need to help us too."

The hug lasted another few seconds, then they broke apart. Ziva and McGee went back to work and Abby and Bree remained in the lab. Abby fiddled with little things while Bree sobbed quietly. The poor girl was probably scarred for life.

Bree wiped her tears away and composed herself. She did not want to be an NCIS agent. She didn't know what she wanted to be. Bree didn't want to be in all this kidnapping business, but she was, and she couldn't just walk away.

Bree grabbed Abby's arm and pulled her along.

"Where are we going?" Abby asked.

"Autopsy," Bree replied. "I need to see Brown."

Abby was shocked. Bree was going to see Brown? Bree didn't understand why she was going. She just felt autopsy was the place to be. Plus, she though Jimmy Palmer was pretty cute. Too bad he was engaged.

The two entered autopsy to find Ducky hunched over a table, studying papers. Bree walked up behind him and peered over his shoulder to see pictures of Gibbs's house and the crime scene. Her eyes were glued to the picture of dried blood. Bree nearly jumped out of her skin when Abby placed her hand on her shoulder and nodded towards Ducky.

"Uh, Dr. Mallard?" Bree asked, losing all her confidence.

"Ducky," Abby corrected.

"Right, Ducky, may I-"

"I knew you would come," Ducky interrupted.

Ducky stood up and moved over to the body cooler. He opened a slide and out popped Brown. Bree wanted to vomit, but she forced herself to move forward and examine him. Brown was pale, but that was a given, considering he was dead. A large purple bruise covered his abdomen. Bree lightly touched the Y stitches and held back a sob. She turned back to Ducky and changed the subject, not wanting to look any weaker.

"What were you doing over there?" Bree asked, pointing to the table.

"Trying to get in the kidnapper's head," Ducky said, holding up the pictures of the blood stain. "This picture means-"

"The kidnapper wanted them to hurt. He didn't want them dead yet," Bree interrupted.

"So it's possible they're still alive?" Abby piped in.

"Possible, but very unlikely," Ducky said sadly.

Abby fled the room. She loved Ducky like a family member, but she couldn't take his lies. Tony and Gibbs were alive. Ducky was lying. Abby ran into McGee and hugged him tight. He hugged her back and patted her hair lightly.

"We'll find them," McGee told her.

"I know," Abby said, wiping away a stray tear. "But I can't help but feel time is running out."

* * *

><p><em>Hahahaha! Brown is dead! Oh God, I'm incredibly messed up...but i guess if i wasn't messed up, Charlie wouldn't be messed up, and this story would have never been written. Oh, and by the way, Charlie created a challenge a while ago, and only about two people entered. So if you think you have a great story, leave the name of it in a review or send a PM. Me and Charlie will read it, and the winner will have a story dedicated to them. And you will have a little bit of a say in the plot. Probably more say than I have. For more details, just go to charlie's profile and click on the story called Charlie's Challenge. It will have the full details of the challenge, cuz I don't remember them right now. <em>

_I will update this again whenever I feel like it. But it will probably be within the next week. And please enter the Charlie's challenge. Cuz if you don't, that means I just typed all that crap about it for nothing. And you should also review, cuz that would make me happy. And by the way, at this moment The Road to Freedom has 42 reviews! Don't ask why that makes me extremely happy. Well, its cuz 42 is the answer to everything. I doubt that you'll understand that, but if you do, I freakin' love you! No, not in the romantic sense of the word, cuz thats just creepy. Oh my God, I'm rambling again! I'm a little hyper at the moment...so I'm gonna shut up now! PLEASE REVIEW AND/OR ENTER THE CHALLENGE!_


	9. Goodbye

_I'm really surprised that I updated twice in the last week. The only reason I did is cuz Charlie threatened to not write the alternate ending if I didn't update soon. So I updated. I might update again tomorrow, but I doubt it. By the way, Charlie has finished writing the story, but I just need to actually type it. I'm also gonna post the last chapter and the alternate ending at the same time. I'll give you more info on the alternate ending in a couple chapters._

_I don't own NCIS. Which reminds me that I still need to watch this week's NCIS..._

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><p>Spencer drummed his fingers lightly on the floor, waiting for the last of the prisoners to fall asleep. Reese had told him <em>They<em> were coming for him. Yes, the name was Reese, not Cheese. The words didn't form right in his mouth, so it came out as Cheese.

Gibbs sat by a wall and waited for Ethan to fall asleep. The poor kid had gotten very sick and all he cared about was Gibbs's raging infection that was quickly claiming him. Ethan was terrified to go to sleep for fear he would find Gibbs dead when he woke up. Gibbs had told Ethan he was the one to worry about.

As soon as Gibbs and Ethan were asleep, Spencer moved to the door and waited. He was ready for them. He was ready to die.

* * *

><p>Xhail coughed violently into her hand and apologized to Reese, who was braiding her hair. Reese was in her early twenties. She was small and had short blue hair that was rapidly turning blonde due to not re-dying it.<p>

Tony watched as the two interacted and could not help but feeling that Reese resembled a gummy bear. Xhail had become violently ill over the last couple weeks. Tony was very worried about her. Xhail climbed onto Tony's lap and fell asleep. Reese sat next to them and stared off into space. Tony knew she was thinking about her lost friend.

"What was he like?" Reese asked suddenly.

Tony knew she was talking about Gibbs. Only Reese and Xhail were bold enough to bring the question out into the open. Tony didn't know how exactly to explain Gibbs.

"Ever seen Batman Begins?" he asked.

Reese nodded. "I love those movies."

"Well, picture him as Bruce Wayne. A man who has everything ripped away from him in the blink of an eye, and instead of giving up, he goes and makes his way to the top. That's Gibbs."

Reese furrowed her brow. "Isn't Batman, like hardcore mean, and hates the world?"

"Not after he adopts Dick Grayson."

"He doesn't adopt Richard in that movie."

"That's not the point," Tony replied.

Two and two clicked in Reese's mind. Gibbs had been stone cold since whatever happened to him, but when a person or people came into his life, he involuntary changed for the better. Reese understood, she had seen that change in herself.

"So who plays the part of Richard Grayson?"

"Me and a few of my friends."

"Their names?"

"Tim McGee, Ziva David, Abby Sciuto, Donald Mallard, who we all call Ducky. And then there's Kate Todd and Jenny Shepard, who and both dead. Leon Vance, who is not well liked, and Jimmy Palmer, who has his moments," Tony said in one breath.

Reese nodded to herself.

"What about you?"

Reese was surprised. No one had ever asked her about herself. At that moment, she realized how much she had to tell.

"How can I start? My life was going nowhere fast, I was seventeen and constantly fighting with my parents. One day after my dad saw I got a tattoo, I decided to run away. I boarded a bus to New York, and was on my way on the bus when I met him."

"Your lost one," Tony said.

Reese nodded. "His name was Spencer. We changed each others lives. He gave me the strength to go home and I was able to prove that he could function normally. You see, he was a schizophrenic. But there was a down side to us meeting. When we were separated, he would have delusions of me holding conversation with him." Reese giggled. "And he calls me Cheese."

Tony and Reese were both in tears by the end of the conversation. But they were both glad they had talked, because they needed it. Tony carefully laid down next to Xhail and fell asleep. Reese found she could not sleep, so she waited in the dark, listening to the sound of other prisoners breathing.

Rough hands yanked Reese to her feet and forced and cloth in her mouth. She desperately tried to scream, but it came out as a muffled sob. She really hoped someone would hear her. When Chad pulled her out of the room, all her hopes of escaping were gone. Chad dragged her into a room with nothing in it but a person she never though she'd see again.

"Cheese?"

Chad ripped the gag out of her mouth and hurried out of the room. Spencer got up off the floor and gently touched Reese's cheek as if to assure himself that she was really there. Reese pulled him into a tight hug and she had no intentions of letting him go.

* * *

><p>Landon watched through the two-way mirror as the friends were reunited. He loved that part of the process. Reunite them, then kill them together. Landon presses a button on the control panel in front of him, and laughed to himself as invisible odorless gas filled the room.<p>

"So who's next?" Devllynn asked casually.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Anthony DiNozzo," Landon replied.

Devllynn's face fell. She didn't want him to kill Tony. She needed to buy him some time. Landon was not going to agree and she knew it. But it was worth a try.

"Not yet," she said.

Landon turned his attention away from the dying people to glare at Devllynn. He was not happy she had questioned his judgment. Landon back handed her. Surprised, Devllynn stumbled back a few steps. Chad wrapped his arms protectively around her.

"Leroy won't last much longer with that infection," Landon said calmly." We need to do it soon."

The three watched as Reese and Spencer died in each other's arms. Landon chuckled softly to himself. Chad was indifferent; he had seen it a thousand times. But Devllynn, for the first time, saw how inhuman it was. She was repulsed she had once taken joy in watching people die.

Landon turned to a lab table and filled two syringes with clear liquid. An exhilarating shock ran down his spine. It was a feeling he got when he knew he held their lives in the palm of his hand.

He was ready to take down Anthony DiNozzo and Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so that chapter depressed me. I finally get to create a character in a story, and Charlie kills him. Oh, and someone said in a review that they think Brown's death is connected to Tony and Gibbs. I forget who reviewed that and I apologize, but I thank whoever that was for reviewing on most of the chapters. Brown's death is not connnected to Tony and Gibbs. He's just a jerkface that Charlie wanted to kill off. Sorry if that disappoints you.<em>

_And none of you entered charlie's challenge! Meanies. I know some of you have written stories, so if you just enter one of them, that would be awesome. And if you do enter, you might be allowed to create a character in Charlie's stories. No promises though, cuz its pretty much all up to Charlie. Even if you don't enter, you're still awesome for reading this story. But you should still enter._


	10. Hello

_I know I said last chapter that I would try to update a few days ago, but I get distracted really easily. I'm gonna try to update more often now since there are only a few chapters left to type and Charlie's already working on a new story. Which by the way, you should check it out when I finally get it posted on here. Which should be in the next few weeks. Its another story that involves the team getting kidnapped...Charlie seriously has never written a story where someone doesn't get kidnapped (not including a one-shot she wrote and then proceeded to lose)...yeah, she has some major issues. And she will eventually see this, so mwahahahah! Did I mention that I have issues also? Well, I do, and you do too if you haven't realized that yet. So...I'm rambling again, and i'm gonna shut up now._

_Disclaimer: I'm not even gonna say it, its too depressing._

* * *

><p>Ethan nibbled at hid cabbage leaves. He was hungry, but couldn't eat. He could see Gibbs was the same problem. The infection was causing Gibbs large amounts of pain and he knew the end was coming, whether it be dying from the infection or being killed by Landon. He could feel it in his gut.<p>

All the victims in the cell were grieving over the loss of Spencer. No one had seen him being taken and they were all mad at themselves for not helping him. Everyone gathered around Gibbs. They were hanging onto every word he was saying because, in some sense, he had become their leader.

"We're going to escape tonight," Gibbs said. "Does everyone know the plan?"

People nodded and murmured "yes" throughout the pack. They had gone over the plan about a thousand times and each time it was said, it sounded better than the last. They all wanted to cheer and scream to the world that they were being saved.

Gibbs stood up with a grunt of pain. Hushed conversations broke out in the mob. Nobody wanted Gibbs to hurt himself more than he had to. They didn't want him to kick the bucket before he had the chance to lead them on the road to freedom.

Using the wall for support, Gibbs made his way to a tall, well-built man with a shaved head who had probably been a hardcore biker before he'd been kidnapped.

"You sure you can do this, Rod?" Gibbs asked, trying to hide his pain.

Rod shrugged. "My hands aren't the cleanest. What's one more strike gonna do?"

Gibbs nodded. Then all of a sudden, the ground was coming for him. In his eyes it twisted into a horrible pit of brown and red. Rod caught him on his way down and tried to set him on his feet.

"Whoa, take it easy there, boss. You're not a full hundred yet," Rod said.

"What?" Gibbs asked wearily. "What did you call me?"

"Sorry, boss, I didn't mean to offend you."

Rod was tough on the outside but on the inside, he was a big softy. Gibbs forced himself to stay standing up. Spencer was no longer with them to warn them what someone was coming, but Gibbs still had his gut.

The door swung open and Landon strolled in and began to drag Gibbs out. The prisoners rebelled and tried to overthrow Landon, but stopped when he pressed a gun to Gibbs's head. Everyone backed off and watched Gibbs being dragged out.

* * *

><p>Tony ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt and dipped it into a bucket of murky drinking water. He laid it across Xhail's burning forehead. Xhail's eyes fluttered open and she gave a small smile that quickly faded away. Tony covered her with his jacket and gently ran his fingers through her hair.<p>

Xhail had been steadily growing sicker. She was at the point where Tony worried for her survival. Tony had been caring for Xhail the best he could, but his efforts seemed useless. Xhail had been the most upset over Reese's death. The two had become good friends. Tony still remembered the talk he had with Reese the night she died. At least in death she was reunited with Spencer. Tony began to think of the people he would be reunited with when they came for him.

Tony did not fight as Chad pulled him out of the room and into the hallway. All of his fight had died with Gibbs. The only time he acted strong and unbroken was when he was in Xhail's presence. Chad tossed Tony in a room face first and closed the door quickly behind him. Tony lay there for a few minutes before he realized someone else was in the room with him. He lifted his head and gasped.

"Gibbs?" he asked, terrified.

Tony was afraid they had given him something that made him see dead people again. But Gibbs didn't look the same as he had the last time Tony had seen him. Gibbs was very pale and his skin was clammy. He looked like he was in pain, maybe even sick. Tony slowly crawled forward, then stopped.

"Are you real?" Tony asked cautiously.

"Yes, DiNozzo, I'm real."

Tony sighed in relief. "Why aren't you dead? I saw them kill you."

"I could say the same thing," Gibbs replied.

"What's with the short answers? It's been four months since we last saw each other and we've thought the other was dead the whole time!"

Gibbs clamped his eyes shut as a fresh wave of pain crashed over him. Tony moved closer, seeing his boss take a sharp breath and hold onto his side.

"Boss, are you alright? What happened?"

"I had surgery," Gibbs said through gritted teeth.

The door opened and Landon, Devllynn, and Chad slipped in with devilish grins on their faces. Landon stepped past Tony and kneeled before Gibbs. Reaching his hand out, he touched the place where he had made the first incision. Gibbs involuntarily groaned in pain. Tony leapt at Landon and wrapped his arms around their captor's neck. Chad pressed a gun to Tony's back and he instantly let go.

"Are you ready to die, Leroy?" Landon asked. "How about you, Anthony?"

"Why are you doing this?" Tony growled.

"What's your favorite activity, Anthony?"

Tony eyed him worriedly. "Watching movies."

"You knew that adrenaline rush you get when the main character's life is in jeopardy? That's the reason I do what I do. To watch my victims go through the stages of grief when a loved one is ripped away from them, and then watch as they have a happy reunion just before they are killed." Landon chuckled.

"You're a sick, twisted, freak," Tony muttered.

"Maybe I am," Landon chided. "Maybe I am."

Several things happened at once. Gibbs pulled his knife out of his belt and stabbed Landon in the chest as the psycho leapt forward and plunged a syringe into the agent's arm. Chad stabbed another syringe into Tony's shoulder and a gunshot went off.

When everything settled down, Chad lay dead at Devllynn's feet, a bullet hole in his back. Devllynn dropped the gun and tears streaked her face, but she still managed to look up and smile at the two agents. Gibbs pulled the syringe out of his arm and unsteadily stood up.

"What was in these?" he asked, holding out the syringe.

"I don't know," Devllynn admitted. "All I know is that Landon invented it."

"You know you're still going to go to jail," Gibbs reminded her.

Devllynn nodded. "I know, but I hope helping you two escape will help my case."

Tony helped Gibbs make his way to the door. Devllynn stayed behind. Out in the hallway, people rushed by. They were a group of prisoners. Ethan stopped when he spotted Gibbs, he didn't spare Tony a second glance. Ethan explained that Rod killed Gary and they had escaped through the open door.

"Stop!" Gibbs cried.

Everyone stopped and turned to face him, waiting for orders. No one knew the way out, but Gibbs did. But they still had to save the other group.

"There is another group of people who need rescued. After, I will show you they way out. He will take you to the other group," Gibbs said, pointing to Tony.

Tony led them to his cell and he opened the door. He walked in and picked up Xhail and told the others what was going on. Everyone ran out and greeted their lost loved one. Gibbs led them to the ladder and he and Tony waited patiently for the free prisoners to make it to the top.

Xhail and Ethan held onto each other and cried for what seemed like decades. The two were the last living members in their family. They were all each other had. They climbed up the ladder when it was their turn, leaving only Tony and Gibbs behind.

"I'm fine, DiNozzo," Gibbs said between panted breaths. "Get up there."

Tony scrambled up the ladder and waited in the dark cabin for Gibbs. All the others had gone outside. Tony gave Gibbs a hand when he got to the top and the two walked out of the cabin together. The prisoners gaped at the many miles of woods in from of them. Night had fallen, and so had snow. None of them were dressed appropriately for the journey ahead of them.

They were not home free yet.

* * *

><p><em>Yay! Tony and Gibbs are free! Oh, and did any of you see NCIS last night (1025/11)? I totally saw that coming the entire episode! I'm not gonna say what happened, just in case some people haven't seen it yet. _

_And some people are entering the challenge! Yay! Even if you don't have time to write a new story and you wanna enter the challenge, just enter a story you've already wrote! Me and Charlie will read it, and then probably argue for the next week about who should win...so yeah, you should enter! Please! _

_And I have now decided to put in a quote at the end of every chapter. It will probably be something random, from something I found on the internet, and NCIS quote, or one from some other show I watch. So here goes:_

_"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead." _

_If you know what show thats from and who said it, you should totally leave it in a review...you won't win a prize or anything for it, but I will freakin' love you forever if you do! And you'll probably get a special shout-out from me in the next chapter. So...please review, and continue reading!_


	11. Stand By Me

_I was gonna update this weekend, but Charlie was a derp and didn't give me her notebook. Anyways, this chapter will be fairly depressing...just a fair warning. This chapter is also the reason I made Charlie write an alternate ending._

_Oh, and I wanted to give a shout-out to CriminalMindsLove1 (love that penname, by the way), who guessed my quote correctly. If you didn't know, my quote was from the character of Barney Stinson from the show How I Met Your Mother. _

_Disclaimer:...You know the drill. I don't own NCIS, blah blah blah. Moving on to the actual story!_

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><p>Xhail slept soundly on Tony's back, covered by his coat, while he trudged though the snow. Tony coughed and his mind wandered back to the syringe Chad had stabbed him with. Had it made him sick? Were Gibbs and Tony dying at that very moment? Had Xhail and Ethan been given the same thing?<p>

Tony's eyes flicked to Gibbs, who was stumbling through the snow, leading the group. Gibbs was dying. The infection mixed with whatever sickness Landon had given them was taking its toll. His body couldn't fight both at once.

Xhail stirred and lifted her head slightly. She asked to be let down and walked in between Gibbs and Tony with Tony's coat wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Ethan ran up and clung to his sister, both of them desperately trying to get warm. At the back of the group, someone whistled the tune 'Stand By Me'. Tony laughed to himself.

"What's so funny, DiNozzo?" Gibbs grunted.

"I forgot to make a movie reference," Tony laughed. "And I just had one handed to me."

"What's that?"

On any other day, Gibbs wouldn't have asked, but at that moment he needed something to take his minds off the pain that was steadily growing. The infection hadn't spread to his lungs yet, so he was lucky. The others didn't know how bad off he really was, not even Tony. Gibbs could hardly walk. They needed to find civilization soon or he was going to die out there.

"Stand by Me," Tony said.

"Never seen it," Gibbs replied.

"Come on, Boss," Tony whined. "It's right down your alley!"

"What's it about?"

"These kids who follow train tracks through the woods in search of a dead body. You see, they think they'll get rich if they find it. So the kid, Chris's, older brother overhears them talking about the money, so it becomes a race to find the body. It ends in a tie and the older brother almost kills Chris because he wants the money. It's a great movie."

"And how does this relate?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, uh, they walked in the woods," Tony stammered.

"That's a long shot, DiNozzo."

Tony turned to ask Xhail and Ethan what they thought, but he found them to be gone. In fact, most of the group was gone. They had stopped about twenty feet back and gathered around something. Tony and Gibbs joined the group and tried to get a look at what everyone was gawking at.

Tony pushed through that crowd to find that Xhail was the source of the commotion. She lay in snow, crying softly, whispering she couldn't go on. Tony scooped her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest. An unspoken statement, saying they were to move forward, moved through the group. Tony hung towards the back of the group with Xhail and Ethan while Gibbs led the way alone.

"Do you really trust this guy?" Tony overheard a man named Hank ask his wife Sonia.

She shook her head. "I don't think he has a clue as to where he's going. He's going to get us all killed."

"Hey," Tony interrupted. "Gibbs knows what he's doing. Just be grateful he's saving your life."

"Like he saved that little girl?" Hank asked, smugly pointing to Xhail in Tony's arms.

Xhail moaned softly and buried her face in Tony's chest. Tony was about to reply rudely when he thought better of it. Hank turned away with a smug smile on his face. Anger bubbled inside Tony. He couldn't let the idiot get away with what he was saying about Gibbs.

Hearing the commotion in the back of the group, Gibbs stopped, causing Daniel and his mother Corinne to run into him. This action sent white hot pain though his side. Slowly he made his way to the back of the group to find Tony arguing with Hank and Sonia.

"There a problem?" Gibbs asked.

"As a matter-o-fact, yes," Hank said. "My wife and I are concerned that you have no clue what you're doing and that maybe you should let someone else, like myself, to lead."

People began to notice the exchange and gathered around them. Some completely trusted Gibbs and others weren't sure where their alliance was, and they were the most interested in what was being said.

"Do you even know where we are?" Hank asked.

"Do you?" Gibbs replied.

"No," Hank admitted. "But I know a handful of people here don't trust you."

Gibbs glared at him. "We are in Pennsylvania. The Appalachians, to be exact," he said.

"How do you know?" Sonia asked.

"I grew up in Pennsylvania; I know when I'm home."

"Pennsylvanian or not, I still don't trust you," Hank yelled.

Whispers broke out through the crowd, some agreeing with Gibbs, others agreeing with Hank. Tony didn't like where this was going. If Hank took charge, he'd probably order them to leave Gibbs and Xhail to die because of how sick they were, then walk off in the wrong direction and get everybody killed.

"If you don't trust me, then get out of here," Gibbs growled.

"I will!" Hank spat. "And everyone who agrees will follow if they know what's good for them."

Hank and Sonia stalked off, followed by a considerable amount of people. Gibbs moved forward without looking back. If those people wanted to get themselves killed, it wasn't his problem. Tony carried Xhail to a clearing where they decided to stop and rest for the night. Corinne and Daniel built a fire and everyone gathered around to keep warm. They left a special place for Xhail, Ethan, Tony, and Gibbs. Gibbs politely denied the spot and it was quickly taken up.

Rod volunteered to stay up through the night and keep watch. Everyone laid down in the snow and fell asleep. Tony tried to stay awake, but sleep claimed him.

;LASKDJC;OAKSMD;VLAKJSDF

Tony found himself in a room with a faint orange glow. The room had no doors, windows, wall, ceilings, or floors. It seemed he was walking on thin air. Then all of a sudden, bodies lay everywhere. Bodies of the people he had been traveling with. Gibbs lay at his feet. He was still alive, but barely. All the people around him had mangled bodies, but Gibbs looked almost the same. It was the infection taking his life.

"Hang on, Boss," Tony said, kneeling beside him.

Laughter filled the room. Tony looked up to see Landon standing in front of him, an insane grin twisted on his face. He held a rifle in his hands and it was aimed at Gibbs. Tony moved between his boss and the gun. Landon lowered his weapon and laughed at Tony.

"You go ahead and kill him then," Landon told Tony.

A gun appeared in Tony's hand and he fired it at Landon. The bullet slowed down and dropped to the ground before it got a chance to hit the psycho. Landon fired his rifle and Tony clamped his eyes shut, waiting for the impact that never came. Instead he heard a grunt of pain from Gibbs.

Tony covered the wound on Gibbs's chest. Blood smeared on his hands and tears spilled out of his eyes. Gibbs wheezed and tried to say something, but all that came out was a gurgled cough. Gibbs closed his eyes and Tony panicked.

"Boss, keep your eyes open!" he screamed.

Gibbs forced his eyes open and stared up at Tony, unsuccessfully trying to mask his pain. Tony plead with Gibbs to hang on. His heart jumped into his throat when he saw the pool of blood gathering under his mentor.

"If you kill him now, it would be a mercy shot," Landon informed Tony.

Once again the gun was in Tony's hands. Landon told him to put it to Gibbs's head, and he did so.

"Now pull the trigger."

Tony shook his head and held back a sob. He couldn't do it, he wouldn't kill Gibbs. Gibbs just watched him, fighting off the numbness that was taking over.

"He's in pain," Landon said. "Put him out of his misery."

Tony again shook his head. Landon leapt onto his back and grabbed his hand, forcing him to hold the gun tight against Gibbs's temple. Landon put a knife to Tony's throat, causing drops of blood to fall from where the knife met the agent's skin. Gibbs's blue eyes met Tony's green. Tony mouthed 'I'm sorry', not caring it was a sign of weakness. Gibbs nodded slightly, he understood and he wasn't mad.

Tony pulled the trigger. Gibbs's head snapped back, but his eyes remained locked on Tony's. There were glazed over and a dead gray instead of the marvelous blue they had been in life. Landon and the bodies evaporated into thin air, leaving Tony alone with his dead boss.

Tony gripped onto Gibbs for dear life. He hugged him and cried, confessing how Gibbs was like a father to him. Tony wished it had been him; he wished he would've let Landon kill him. But Gibbs understood, he didn't want Tony to die. But his words fell to deaf ears.

Gibbs's body disappeared and Tony felt himself falling. He wouldn't ever stop, he was falling forever.

A;SLDIFJA;LWKNF

Tony woke with a start. The first thing that popped into his mind was to check on Gibbs. Tony sat up and gazed over at his boss. Gibbs's back was arched and he seemed to be in pain, but Tony knew he wasn't going to die. At least not that night. Tony laid back down.

The sky was pink from the approaching dawn and the fire was nothing but ash and red coals. It would've been a beautiful winter scene had there not been forty dying people in the picture.

Tony rolled over to find Xhail's beautiful eyes staring back at him. She had Tony's coat wrapped tightly around her small body, tears welling up in her eyes. Tony immediately knew something was wrong.

"Tony," Xhail choked out. "I'm scared."

Tony sat up and cradled Xhail in his arms like a baby, her long brown hair covering her face. She was violently shivering, so Tony pulled Xhail closer to his body, trying to transfer his heat to her. One second Xhail was light as a feather, the next she seemed like a thousand pound weight. Her chest ceased to rise and fall and her heart stood still. Xhail's eyes were lightly closed, almost as if she were sleeping. As if she was still that wonderful, amazing, alive child.

Tony furiously wiped away the tears leaking from his eyes and set Xhail in front of himself, then he began chest compressions. Tony felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Gibbs kneeling beside him, shaking his head slightly to tell him it was too late. Without thinking, Tony shrugged off Gibbs's comforting hand and pushed him away. Gibbs grunted in pain when Tony made contact with his infection. Tony's eyes widened in terror and he turned to face his boss, but Gibbs held up a hand to quiet him before he could say anything.

"I'll go get Ethan," he said tiredly.

Gibbs draped his coat over Tony's shoulders, leaving him kneeling over Xhail's still form, and weeping quietly.

* * *

><p><em>And that is why I made Charlie write an alternate ending. I pretty much knew Xhail was gonna die from the beginning of the story, and yet I still ended up getting attached to her. Charlie got attached to her too. And because I'm too lazy to type much right now, I will now end with my quote:<em>

_"I'm not insane, my mother had me tested." _

_(Hint: Its from another comedy show. I will probably use alot of quotes from those)_


	12. Never Alone

_Okay, so it only took me five days to update this, which is pretty awesome since I'm lazy. And on a more random note, I think Charlie's complete insanity has finally completely rubbed off on me, because I found myself laying on a hardwood floor singing showtunes earlier today...thanks a lot, Charlie. And I'm actually still singing showtunes as I type this. For example, I am singing Gee, Officer Krupke right now. I know you probably don't care, but I'm just typing whatever comes to mind at this moment._

_And I'm gonna give a shout out to...CriminalMindsLove1, Deans Addiction, and combat crazy for guessing my quote correctly. My quote was said by Sheldon Cooper from the amazing show The Big Bang Theory. You guys are awesome!_

* * *

><p>It's strange how a person can feel so alone but is never truly alone. Ethan trudged through the snow beside Tony and Gibbs. Tony had been very close to Xhail, and Gibbs seemed shaken by her death for some reason unknown to Ethan. But they didn't matter, nothing they were feeling could sum up to the way he felt. Gibbs was doing his best to comfort Tony and Ethan but they kept pushing him away.<p>

Ethan decided he hated Tony. He should have been the one with his sister during the last moments of her life, not Tony. He spared a glance at Gibbs, who was growing weaker by the second, and Ethan doubted he'd live to see the end of the trip. Ethan honestly didn't care, he was done feeling sad when people died.

"What's that?" someone yelled.

Gibbs looked up to see a rather large cabin sitting on top of a hill. It looked empty and probably had no phones to call for help, but it was also a sign to say they were getting close to civilization. People broke away from the group and sprinted for it. They began banging on the door, calling for help and they eventually broke the door down. Tony stayed with Gibbs while he slowly limped towards the cabin.

The inside of the cabin was nicely decorated. Two king sized beds sat in one corner and a large couch and assorted Laz-E-Boys say sat in front of a large window. People had made their way into the kitchen and were cracking open cans of food they had found. Gibbs and Tony were handed two cans of tomato paste that they began eating with their fingers. It was the greatest thing they had ever tasted.

Blackness came over Tony's vision and when it cleared, he found himself lying on one of the beds with Corinne placing a wet washcloth on his forehead. He tried to sit up, but was stopped by Corinne's gentle hands.

"You are sick," Corinne told him. "You need to rest, you have whatever that little girl had."

"I forgot Daniel told me you were a nurse," Tony said.

"I'm pretty sure you're going to be okay, her body wasn't strong enough to fight it off."

"Where's Gibbs?" Tony asked, getting scared.

"He went out with Rod, Daniel, and a few others to get firewood," Corinne said, getting a strange look on her face.

"Have you-"

"Taken a look at his infection? Yes."

"And?"

"I'm surprised he can still walk," Corinne said. "But that will change soon. He doesn't have much time, and on top of that he has whatever you and Ethan have."

Tony turned his head to the side and saw Ethan lying fast asleep on the other bed. Seeing him lying there just confirmed his fear that Landon had given them something to make them sick. Then Tony felt angry. Angry at Gibbs for risking his life just to get some stupid firewood.

The door opened and Daniel, Rod, a few others, and finally Gibbs came in with a bundle of wood in his arms. Tony tried to sit up, but Corinne stopped him again. Gibbs sat the wood near the fireplace and began making his way towards Tony. Tony could see how stiff Gibbs was, he was trying to mask his pain. Gibbs sat down on the edge of the bed and stared into space for a minute. Then he said, "DiNozzo, I swear if you got the plague again, I'm going to skin you alive."

Tony was quiet for a moment, then he burst into fits of laughter. All his anger at Gibbs had been forgotten. Tony couldn't remember the last time he had laughed and actually meant it. Gibbs gave a half smile, and then he grimaced in pain. His hand shot to his side and he clamped his eyes shut.

"Boss?" Tony asked.

Gibbs didn't answer, he just kept his eyes shut tight. His breathing was rapid. Tony sat up and Corinne didn't stop him. He placed a hand on Gibbs's shoulder and felt how he shook.

"Agent Gibbs?" Corinne asked worriedly.

Gibbs gave a small nod to show he was listening.

"Is it one big pain or short jabs?"

"I don't know," Gibbs said through gritted teeth.

Gibbs sat like that for a couple of minutes. Tony was worried about him, he really wanted to hit the road because Corinne's warning had scared him. They needed to get Gibbs help, and fast. Gibbs took a shuddering breath, sat up straight, and opened his eyes.

"It's gone," Gibbs lied, standing up. "I think it's time for everyone to hit the hay, I'll take night watch."

Everyone agreed with that statement and found somewhere to crash. About six people were crammed on each bed. Most people gave up and settled for the floor. Tony took the couch and Gibbs sat in an arm chair.

Sleep came over Gibbs no matter how much he fought it. When he opened his eyes, a figure stood before him. For a moment he though it was Tony, but then light hit the person's face. Landon was covered in dried blood and Gibbs's knife was still stuck in his chest. He smiled insanely at Gibbs.

"Hello, Leroy," he said.

Gibbs didn't understand how Landon was still alive, but never the less, he was. He almost expected him to stop and tell him that it was all a joke, but he didn't. Instead, Landon wrapped his hands around Gibbs's neck and squeezed as head as he could. Gibbs tried to pry his hand off but his efforts were useless.

"There's a bomb in here, Leroy," Landon said. "Too bad you'll be dead before you can warn anybody."

"Help," Gibbs choked out so quietly that Landon couldn't even hear him.

Gibbs's eyes fell on Tony. He had no clue what was going on. Gibbs could only hope they got out before the bomb went off. Then his eyes focused on the knife in Landon's chest. With the last of his strength, Gibbs ripped the knife out and cut Landon's arm. Then he knew no more.

Tony woke before the sun had risen. He sat up and stretched. He saw Gibbs had fallen asleep sometime in the night. Then he saw the bloody knife lying on the ground. Quicker than The Flash, Tony was shaking Gibbs and trying to wake him up.

"Boss, wake up!" Tony screamed. "Come on, Gibbs!"

The commotion woke up many people. Tony frantically shook Gibbs, losing more hope every second that went by that Gibbs didn't wake up. Tony dropped to his knees and put his face in his hands. Then came the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

"DiNozzo, get up before I smack you," Gibbs rasped.

Tony jumped up. "Boss! Are you alright? What happened?"

Gibbs shook the question off and stood up despite his body's protests. Blood rushed to his head and he had to hold onto Tony to keep himself from passing out. Tony caught sight of the bruise on Gibbs's neck, but stayed quiet. Gibbs remembered Landon being there, then he remembered the bomb.

"Everyone out!" he shouted. "There's a bomb in here!"

Everyone jumped to their feet and sprinted for the door. Tony tried to help Gibbs, but he was being stubborn and refused the help. Everyone made it out and stood a good hundred yard away and waited for the explosion. It was then that Tony and Gibbs noticed Ethan was missing from the group. Gibbs began to head for the cabin when he was stopped by Tony.

"I'll go," he said.

Tony ran into the cabin. He picked up Gibbs's knife and hastily shoved it into his belt loop with his knife. Then he realized Gibbs had stabbed Landon with his knife. Landon had been there. Tony found Ethan asleep on the bed. He quickly scooped him up and ran for the exit. As soon as he was out the door, the cabin blew up behind up. Tony was thrown forward due the blast. In mid air, he turned his back to the ground to protect Ethan.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

Ethan nodded shakily.

The group of people gathered around them and helped them up, and they were quickly on their way. Tony stopped when he saw blood in the snow. He called Gibbs over and the two followed it to find a body. A body with sandy hair and soulless, and now unseeing, blue eyes. Landon was finally dead. He had bled out from his wounds.

Ethan walked beside Tony, feeling guilty for hating him. Tony had risked his life saving someone who hated him. That was a true hero. Ethan decided he was okay, but he would, without hesitation, trade all these people for his sister back.

Tony shivered, disturbing thoughts would not stay out of his head. He pulled his coat closer to his body, willing them to go away.

"What's wrong, DiNozzo?" Gibbs grunted.

Tony debated on whether or not to tell Gibbs. Then he decided to.

"Boss, if I had let you go in, you'd be dead," Tony said.

"'If' being the key word," Gibbs replied.

"'If' almost happened."

"But it didn't," Gibbs said, smacking Tony on the back of the head.

Tony still couldn't shake the though that they had narrowly escaped Death. Death always plans to collect.

* * *

><p><em>No, Landon was not immortal...Charlie didn't even know why he was still alive. I'm pretty sure its cuz the knife was keeping all the blood in, which prevented him from bleeding out. And that is why he survived until Gibbs pulled the knife out. And on an even more random note, I am now singing the Time Warp. And I'm also doing the dance in my head. And again, I don't give a crap if you don't care. I'm just typing what I feel like typing. And now for my quote: (which I want to thank CriminalMindsLove1 for giving me this quote)<em>

_"Without rules, we all might as well be up in a tree flinging our crap at each other."_


	13. Not a Marine

_Hello, everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful...however many days it was since I last updated! This story is almost finished...only two more chapters and then the alternate ending. And nobody guessed my quote from last chapter...It was said by Red Forman on the show That 70s Show. I've never really watched that show, I just got the quote from somebody (thank you again for that...you know who you are)_

_Ummm...I still don't own NCIS._

* * *

><p>Gibbs blinked his eyes, trying to rid them of a fuzzy film that had settled over them. His legs felt like jelly, each step sent flares of pain to his infection. Gibbs was shaking badly. He was hot and cold at the same time, hot from his fever and cold from the crisp winter air. All in all, he knew he couldn't go much farther.<p>

Tony couldn't stand watching his boss stumble through the snow. But he didn't say anything or try to help because he knew it would anger him. Gibbs was pale and sweaty, his pupils were dilated. Tony was scared for him. He knew Gibbs didn't have much time.

The dreaded time came sooner than anyone thought. Gibbs leaned against a tree and slid to the ground, holding his side. This action went unnoticed by the group. Gibbs's lungs rapidly pumped air, it seemed they couldn't get enough.

Tony noticed Gibbs's absence and wandered through the group, looking for his boss. Tony spotted him propped up against a tree. He was at his side in a second, checking over him.

"Come on, Boss, we're almost there," Tony begged. "I can feel it in my gut, can't you?"

"My gut's numb," Gibbs said, barely above a whisper.

Tony's stomach did backflips. This was it and he knew it. Tony wanted to make Gibbs get up and keep moving, he wanted to call Rod over and ask him to help carry Gibbs the rest of the way. But Tony knew his boss's body wasn't capable of moving on, so he plopped down in the snow beside him.

"What are you doing, Tony?" Gibbs growled.

"Staying with you," Tony replied simply.

"Go with them and get help," Gibbs ordered.

"Marines don't leave men behind."

"You're not a Marine, DiNozzo," Gibbs stated. "Now get out of here, I'll be here when you get back."

"Promise?" Tony whimpered, sounding like Abby.

"Yes."

Tony stood up and spared Gibbs one last glance, then continued down the road. Gibbs let out a shuddering breath as he watched his agent go. He knew it killed Tony to leave him behind, but it had to be done. Gibbs couldn't stand the thought of weighing them down anymore than he already had.

"Good job, Tony," Gibbs said when he was out of ear shot.

Gibbs knew he would never see Tony again. Death couldn't be cheated, it could only be postponed. Death always collected one way or another, this time infection and sickness was chosen. Death was coming for Gibbs, but he held on as best he could for Tony and his team.

Gibbs laid down in the soft fluffy snow. It felt like a cloud and almost took his mind off the pain. Gibbs opened his eyes, he didn't know how long he had laying there or if he had fallen asleep or if he was even dead. No, he couldn't be dead, because the pain was still there. Gibbs wrote a message in the snow and closed his eyes again, and he lay still as the black blanket of Death settled over him.

* * *

><p>Ziva made an irritated noise at how slow McGee was driving. Bree shifted uneasily in the backseat. They were in Pennsylvania, on the way to a witness's house. William Moore claimed that he had seen Tony and Gibbs being taken.<p>

William or Bill Moore lived in a pretty remote area. His house was a small trailer that didn't have much of a lawn and was surrounded by woods. The three stepped out of the car and knocked of Bill's front door and were greeted with the sound of a small dog barking.

"Down, Skipper." They heard someone say.

The front door opened to reveal Bill Moore. Bill had long straggly gray hair, he walked with a hunch and had a terrible case of lazy eye. A small Pomeranian yipped at his heels. Bill ushered the agents in to reveal that he was a hoarder. There was nowhere to sit, so they stood.

"Um," Bree started. "We are here to-"

"Ah, yes," Bill said. "I was driving by when I saw them get taken."

Ziva and McGee looked at each other uneasily. "Could you tell us what happened?"

Bill nodded. "Everything was quiet, too quiet."

McGee rolled his eyes. This was going to be good.

"Then there was this big dark shape in the sky. Then I saw yer agents floatin' through the air, all limp like. There was a bright flash and BOOM! They were gone! But don't worry, the aliens will bring them back, they brought me back."

_No wonder_, Ziva thought. Out loud, she said, "I'm almost positive they were not abducted by aliens."

"Almost," Bill echoed.

Bill's face went blank and he stared forward. McGee waved his hands in front of Bill's face, but he gave no indication of seeing it. The three agents exited, wanting to get away from the weirdo. Even Ziva was a little scared, though she would never admit it.

The all climbed into the car with a sigh. The trip had been a total waste. Out of the corner of her eye, Bree saw people walk out of the woods.

* * *

><p>Tony almost dropped to his knees when he caught sight of pavement, beautiful, gray, cracked pavement. Better yet, he saw a house and people getting into a car. It was like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter all wrapped in one! Tony sprinted for the car, not caring who was in it. It could have been an axe murderer for all he cared. The car stopped and three people stepped out. Tony threw himself at the nearest one and held on for dear life.<p>

"Oh my God, McGeek, I've never been so happy to see you," Tony said, nearly weeping with joy.

Tony let go of McGee and moved to Ziva. Ziva had tears in her eyes. She brushed her hand along his cheek to let herself know he was there. Tony held onto her hand and pulled her into a tight hug. When he let go, he looked at Bree for a moment and then just for the heck of it, he hugged her too.

"Where's the other one?" Bree asked. "Gibbs?"

Tony's eyes grew as big as melons and he took off for the woods. The others followed, growing scared. Tony slowed down to a jog and let Ziva, McGee, and Bree catch up. Tony should have told them to bring blankets or something, but the only thing on his mind was to save Gibbs.

"Tony, what has happened?" Ziva asked.

"Gibbs is dying."

Tony slowed to a stop when he saw Gibbs lying on the ground, not moving. So many thoughts rushed through his head at that moment. Tony's world did somersaults. McGee and Ziva caught him before he hit the ground. Tony choked on a sob and turned his face away. Then something caught his eye.

Written in the snow were two words:

Semper Fi

* * *

><p><em>Charlie wanted me to stress that the story is not over yet...and this is NOT a deathfic. Thats not really a spoiler since Charlie would never kill an NCIS character...probably cuz she knows I would kill her if she did. And did any of you see NCIS on Tuesday? I realized that when any random redhead comes on the show, I think Gibbs is gonna get together with her...I have major issues. And I realized that I hate episodes with two parts...bad stuff always happens in those episodes. And I might update again this weekend, because I don't have school tomorrow! Yay! Anyways, onto my quote:<em>

_"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now."_


	14. Holding On

_Okay, so this is chapter...14 of The Road to Freedom. That means only two more chapters, including the alternate ending. And I guess I can now tell you what happens in the alternate ending...Xhail isn't dead in the alternate ending. I know thats really unrealistic, but it was mainly written to keep me from killing Charlie over Xhail's death. Anyways...none of you guessed my quote from last chapter! The quote was said by Zaphod Beeblebrox (cool name, right?) from the absolutely amazing book 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I recommend you read it, its a good book._

_Disclaimer:_

_Me: I own NCIS! _

_CBS: No you don't! Now stop lying or we'll kill you!_

_Me: Okay, fine, I don't own NCIS! *shoots CBS an irritated glare*_

* * *

><p>Tony detached himself from Ziva and McGee and slowly made his way to Gibbs. Tony was angry. Gibbs had broken his promise. Tony kneeled in the snow beside his boss and placed his hand on Gibbs's head, he was still semi-warm. Ziva sat beside him and put her arm around his shoulders. McGee and Bree joined them and the four cried together.<p>

"What happened?" McGee finally asked.

"I'm not sure," Tony said. "He had some kind of surgery and got an infection."

Ziva held back tears as she lifted Gibbs's shirt. An improperly healed scar showed on his abdomen, surrounded by red feverish skin. Tony saw the slight rise of Gibbs's chest and scrambled to his feet.

"Tony, what-?" McGee asked.

"He's alive!" Tony exclaimed.

Tony picked Gibbs up by one armpit and McGee picked him up by the other. They began to drag him out of the woods. Death was not going to get his way. Tony felt sick to his stomach, not because Gibbs was dying, it was the stupid little bug Landon had given him.

Gibbs's eyes fluttered open, the world was moving so fast around him it was a wonder he didn't throw up. He heard voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Gibbs tried to move, but his body protested. He remembered pain, then falling into darkness, but the pain had been replaced with a dull numbness that was slowly creeping along his body. He almost wished for the pain to return. Then he saw a flash of red hair.

"Shannon?" he croaked.

McGee nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Gibbs speak. McGee didn't know if Gibbs was actually seeing Shannon or if he was seeing Bree and though she was Shannon. Both scared him, the first told him Gibbs was dying quickly, and the second told him Gibbs was dying and delusional.

"Shannon?" Gibbs asked.

"Bree, stand in front of him," McGee instructed.

Bree shot McGee a strange look, but did as he said. A ghost of a smile crossed Gibbs's face when he caught sight of Bree. Tony didn't know what Shannon looked like, but Gibbs was seeing her in Bree. He tried to reach out and touch her, but his arms refused to work. Bree was confused but kept it up, whatever is was that she was doing.

Ethan was standing by the car when they broke out of the woods. He had several blankets, a box of cereal, and a cup of coffee in his arms. Ethan opened the car doors when he saw them coming. Ziva sat in the driver's seat, McGee took shotgun, Tony, Gibbs and Ethan sat in the back and Bree sat at their feet. Ziva sped off for the hospital.

Gibbs smiled warmly at Bree, so she held his hand. It seemed to make him happy. Ethan wrapped one of the blankets around Gibbs's shoulders and tried to feed him some Lucky Charms, but he wouldn't eat them. Tony tried giving him the coffee, but Gibbs wouldn't take that either. Finally he gave up and started munching on the cereal.

"Where'd you get these?" Tony asked Ethan.

"That man's house, the others practically tore the place apart," Ethan replied.

McGee threw Tony his cell phone and told him to call Abby.

"Abigail Sciuto, forensic scientist extraordinaire."

"Hey, Abby, I've got a question," Tony said.

"Who is this?" Abby asked.

"If the marshmallows in Lucky Charms are the charms, then is the gross cat food nobody eats called Luckys?"

"Tony?"

Tony grinned. "The one and only."

"Oh my God!" Abby gushed. "Are you okay? What happened? Where are you?"

"Whoa, slow down, Abby."

"Where's Gibbs?"

Tony froze and looked over at his boss, who was being held over a cliff by such a breakable thread. Tony didn't want to tell Abby that her hero was holding onto life by the skin of his teeth. Gibbs's eyes were closed and his head was rolled to one side. Tony's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

"No able espanol."

"Tony!" Abby exclaimed.

"Can't talk, Abs, we're in Pennsylvania on our way to a hospital. I'll have McGoo call you when we get there."

"What-?"

But Tony had already hung up.

Tony shook Gibbs none too gently and his eyes opened then snapped shut again. Tony growled in frustration and began to shake Gibbs, who refused to stay conscious.

"Boss, keep your eyes open."

Gibbs opened his eyes to find everything was a big blurry blob, but recognized his senior field agent's voice. Tony had come back for him. Gibbs didn't want to die in front of Tony, so he held on. He would die when he was alone.

"Just hang on, Boss," McGee said. "We're almost there."

McGee? It was McGee! Had they been saved? Gibbs tried to speak, but all that came out was a strange gurgling noise. Ethan jumped hearing the sound. Tears rolled down his cheeks. Tony watched in pure terror as Gibbs's eyes glazed over. He checked his neck for a pulse and was relieved to find one.

Ziva swung into the hospital parking lot. Tony and McGee dragged Gibbs out of the car and into the ER. Even in his unconscious state, Gibbs refused to let go of a terrified Bree's hand. They weren't separated until the doctors detached them and rushed Gibbs into surgery. Bree took a seat next to Tony and absentmindedly braided and unbraided her long red hair.

"Now who are you?" Tony asked.

Bree smiled sheepishly. "Your replacement. Brianna "Bree" Rain."

"How have they," Tony nodded to Ziva and McGee, "been holding up?"

"They never stopped searching for you guys," Bree said. "Vance told them to quit, he said you guys were dead, but they didn't believe it. They searched 'illegally' for the past month."

Tony nodded thoughtfully and began to pace the waiting room. McGee ran to call Abby and Ducky. Ziva cleaned her gun, but her eyes never left the door Gibbs had disappeared through. Ethan fell asleep with his head resting on Ziva's shoulder, who oddly didn't seem to mind. Ziva saw movement out of the corner of her eye so she focused her attention on that.

Ziva found Tony sprawled on the floor. She checked him over and called for a doctor. Ziva couldn't understand what happened, one second he was fine and the next he was on the ground. Tony opened his eyes as the nurses loaded him onto a gurney, Ziva could get lost in those pools of emerald green.

"Ethan's sick too," he said before he was wheeled away.

A small blonde nurse came and took Ethan. Tony and Ethan were placed in a room together, a thin green curtain separated them. Tony fell asleep and was awoken to arms wrapped around his body in a hug. He opened his eyes to find Abby and Ducky smiling warmly at him. Just the sight of Tony was a miracle in their eyes.

"Gibbs?" Tony asked.

"Still in surgery," Ducky told him. "We haven't heard anything yet."

Tony nodded and noticed Ethan standing by his bed, sipping a hot chocolate and munching on a cookie. Abby handed Tony a cup of chicken soup, which he swallowed in one gulp. Ducky told him to slow down or he would throw it all back up, but that didn't slow him down.

"The doctor said you're good to go," Abby said. "We were waiting for you to wake up."

Just at that moment, McGee burst in with a wide smile stretched across his face.

"Gibbs is out of surgery, Room C17."

Tony threw off his covers and sprinted down that hallway until he came to Room C17. He entered to find Gibbs asleep on a bed, some of his skin color returned. Tony tiptoed to the bed and sat down next to it. He nearly screamed when he saw Bree doing the same thing on the other side of the bed. Bree was holding Gibbs's hand.

"I thought it would comfort him," Bree explained.

Tony smiled. "So how do you like NCIS?"

"It's not the job for me," Bree admitted. "I handed in my resignation an hour ago. I'm going back to school to be a vet."

"You're not leaving because we're back, are you?"

Bree nodded. "I never wanted to be a special agent, but when I got mixed in with the kidnapping business I felt like I had to help them find you."

Voices. Gibbs heard voices. They sounded far away, but they were steadily growing closer. His eyelids felt like they had lead weights on them, but he forced them open. The first thing he saw was Bree and he snatched his hand away, causing her to gasp. Then his eyes fell on Tony.

"Mornin', Boss."

"You saved them, and me?"

Tony didn't know what to say, so he just nodded.

"Good job, DiNozzo."

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><p><em>I totally loved Tony's question about the Lucky Charms! No offense if you actually like the gross cat food stuff. Oh, and before I forget, I want to tell you that Charlie is now writing a new story! Its called Nothing Is Ever Forgotten, and you should keep an eye out for it. It might take me a while to get it posted since Charlie's too busy now to write constantly. But I should have started posting by December. If I don't, just send Charlie a private message and yell at me. And then Charlie will be writing another story after that one called In The Blink Of An Eye...I'm pretty excited for that one cuz it involves an asylum. And there's OCs based off of a lot of people me and Charlie know. You should totally read that one too. Its not started yet, and I won't start posting until sometime next year, but I think it might be Charlie's second best story. Wow, I just realized how much I was rambling...Anyways, onto my quote! And you should know this one:<em>

_"We gotta stay alive long enough to not get dead."_


	15. Of Course

_Okay, so this is the 'official' last chapter of The Road to Freedom! You should still read the alternate ending, because I will post that right after I post this! And you should review on both chapters because it would be absolutely freakin' amazing if this got at least a hundred reviews!_

_Anyways, no one completely guessed my quote correctly. It was said by Tony, on the episode "Truth or Consequences", which is the seventh season premiere. CriminalMindsLove mostly guessed it correctly, but the episode was wrong. And combatcrazy gets a shout-out too for watching Burn Notice and Psych because those are some of my favorite shows!_

_Ummm...I don't own NCIS._

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><p><em>Notorious serial kidnappers Chad Bue, Devllynn Scott, and Landon Daweson were stopped by their own victims. Mr. Bue and Mr. Daweson were killed and Ms. Scott, along with her accomplices, were sentenced to life in prison. This was all made possible by two brave NCSI agents, who had the other victims rebel and led them on the road to freedom. They will forever be known as heroes.<em>

_-Article by Hannah Taylor_

Tony sat down his newspaper on his desk and sat back comfortably in his chair. He couldn't wait to rub that article in someone's face, mainly McGee. Tony's eyes strayed to Gibbs's empty desk. Ducky had gone to pick Gibbs up from the hospital, he had insisted on coming into work before returning to his house. Then Tony's first victim walked by.

"Hey, McGeek, the big bossman and I are heroes now," Tony said with a lopsided grin.

"That's great, Tony."

McGee had something to be proud of himself for also. He had successfully tracked down James Morrison, Ethan's dad. James greeted his son with open arms but he was heartbroken to learn his daughter, Xhail, and his ex-wife, Cassie, had been killed. But overall, it was a semi-happy reunion for them both.

Gibbs wheeled in a wheel chair and went straight to his desk. That didn't surprise Tony, he had been away for nearly five months. Ducky sat a cup of coffee in front of Gibbs, which he gladly took and drank.

"Hey, Boss, did you read the newspaper article about us?" Tony asked.

"Yep," Gibbs replied. "Did you notice they spelled 'NCIS', 'NCSI'?"

Tony reread the article and groaned. "Of course."

* * *

><p><em>THE END...kind of! Please read the alternate ending!<em>


	16. Alternate Ending

_So, this is obviously the alternate ending! This probably wouldn't exist if I hadn't threatened Charlie for killing Xhail...Anyways, this is set before Gibbs gets back from the hospital._

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><p>Tony groaned at the sound of his phone ringing. He knew it was Vance, but he didn't know what he had done to get the director's undivided attention. Tony's heart sank. Had something happened to Gibbs and Ducky on the ride home from the hospital? He reached for the phone, only one way to find out.<p>

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo," Tony answered.

"DiNozzo," Vance said. "I need you up here now."

Tony stood up and shakily made his way up the stairs, ignoring the questioning looks coming from Ziva and Tim. He made his way to the director's office, feeling that time had slowed down. Tony didn't know what to do if he was delivered bad news about Gibbs, he had been doing so well. Vance waited outside his door with the corners of his mouth turned up in an almost-smile.

"There's someone here to see you," Vance said.

Vance opened the door to reveal a little girl with light brown, almost blonde, hair that was tied back in a braid. She wore a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with a pink hoodie. Tony was confused. Why would a little girl be there to see him? Then he caught sight of her dazzling green eyes.

"Xhail," Tony breathed, dropping to his knees and placing his hands on her shoulders. "How?"

Xhail smiled, but Vance answered. "The couple who owned the cabin you blew up went on vacation to find their house in ruins. So instead of calling the police, they decided to follow your tracks in the snow and they found Kylie."

"Xhail," Xhail said. "Kyle."

"Where are you staying?" Tony asked her.

"With my daddy and Ethan."

Xhail wrapped her small arms around Tony and squeezed tight. Tony hugged her back, tears threatening to spill over.

"I love you, Tony," Xhail whispered.

"I love you too, Xhail."

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><p><em>THE END...AGAIN! I hoped you enjoyed this story! And you should totally read Charlie's new story, Nothing Is Ever Forgotten, when I post it! Thank you for reading, and please review!<em>


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